■ Diplomacy
Vanuatu not an ally
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) acknowledged yesterday that Vanuatu is no longer Taiwan's ally in a question-and-answer session in the legislature. Chen signed a diplomatic communique with former Vanuatuan prime minister Serge Vohor to establish official ties last November. However, under pressure from China, the Vanuatuan parliament deposed Vohor over his alleged corruption in December. Vohor's successor Ham Lini did not recognize the country's diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The ministry reiterated Taiwan's ties with Vanuatu remained valid because Lini's new government did not send a diplomatic note to Taiwan to terminate both sides' relations. However, pressed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (章孝嚴), Chen admitted for the first time that he no more considered Vanuatu as "a diplomatic ally" and agreed to remove the country from the list of Taiwan's allies on the ministry's Web site.
■ Charity
Prodigy on fundraising visit
Andrew Hsu (徐安廬), a 13-year-old prodigy university student in Seattle, Washington, is scheduled to come to Taiwan tomorrow to raise funds for his World Children Organization, which aims to provide poor children with English learning materials. Hsu, currently a student at the University of Washington who is expected to obtain a bachelor of science degree next year, has been working on the compilation of a 130-volume series of basic English-learning books in the hope that initially, 10,000 sets can be printed to be distributed to poor children worldwide who have no access to education, according to Hsu's grandfather, who remained in Taipei after his son and daughter-in-law emigrated to Seattle when the child was a baby. Hsu and his younger brother Patrick jointly established the World Children Organization in 2002, committed to consolidating global resources and strengths to help poor children without access to education, food or shelter.
■ Cross-strait ties
Law promotes independence
Over 50 percent of people in Taiwan believe China's "Anti-Secession" Law will fuel pro-independence sentiment, a pro-China newspaper poll here revealed yesterday. According to the survey, 51 percent of 820 peopled polled by the United Daily News yesterday believed the legislation passed by China's National People's Congress on Monday would in fact help promote Taiwan independence. Only 17 percent of the respondents said the Anti-Secession Law would deter Taiwan from formally breaking away from China and 32 percent had no comment. Among those questioned, 66 percent admitted that Taiwan had neither the capability nor means to declare formal independence.
■ International
Canada expresses concern
Canada on Tuesday expressed concern over the "Anti-Secession" Law passed by China's National People's Congress on Monday which gives Beijing's military legal basis to attack Taiwan. "We are especially concerned that the codification in the anti-secession law of the option to resort to non-peaceful means could contribute to increased tensions in the region," Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew said in a statement. "Canada adheres to a One China policy. Unilateral action by either side to change Taiwan's status is unacceptable. This includes the use of force."
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
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