■ Diplomacy
Racist gaffe upsets allies
The government yesterday apologized for offending African diplomats, who were served soup in paper bowls decorated with a drawing of a black boy with a lion, giraffe and jellyfish. The diplomats were touring factories when they stopped at a seafood restaurant for lunch last week. The restaurant served them soup in the bowls, which depicted a smiling black boy waving a leaf surrounded by the animals. The officials walked out of restaurant, calling the drawing offensive. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) apologized for the incident, but added that the manufacturer of the bowls probably didn't mean to belittle anyone with the drawing. "Taiwanese have been friendly to foreigners, and no one tried to offend our friends deliberately," Lu said. The diplomats were from Swaziland, Malawi, Chad, Senegal and the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.
■ Politics
Fingerprinting urged
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) yesterday urged the Legislative Yuan not to review an amendment to the household registration law, saying that the requirement for citizens to be fingerprinted when claiming a new ID card should remain in place. Tsai made the remarks amid public concern about social order after two policemen were attacked from behind while patrolling the streets in Sijhih, Taipei County. One officer was killed and the other seriously injured. Under current law, citizens will be required to be fingerprinted when claiming the new version of the ID card which is set to be launched on July 1. The Executive Yuan recently proposed several revisions to the household registration law to remove the fingerprint requirement due to pressure from rights organizations.
■ Politics
Lien urged to criticize China
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) should speak for those whose basic human rights or religious freedoms have been oppressed by the Chinese government during his planned China visit, a Democratic Progressive Party legislative whip said yesterday. Chen Ching-jun (陳景峻) said at a news conference that 50.5 percent of the respondents in a just-released opinion poll voiced opposition to Lien's planned trip to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), compared to 36.7 percent who gave a thumbs-up to Lien's travel plans. "The poll results indicate that more than half of the Taiwanese people don't support Lien's planned China visit, " Chen said, adding that if Lien insists on his travel plans in defiance of public opinion, he should be courageous enough to ask Chinese leaders to stop human rights abuses and cease suppression of Falun Gong and Catholic followers.
■ Politics
Ma puts Ishihara on ice
The Taipei City Government yesterday postponed an invitation to Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara to serve as spokesman for a Taipei travel journal's Japanese edition following a dispute over textbooks and a Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) visit to a contentious shrine, a city official said. Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visited Tokyo last month and invited Ishihara to promote tourism in Taipei, the official said. However, the visit by TSU Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強) to the Yasukuni Shrine on April 2 and Tokyo's decision three days later to approve a textbook glossing over its wartime atrocities led the city to postpone the plan. Two French artists have been asked to serve as spokesmen for the next issue of the magazine, the official said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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