A youth foundation yesterday launched a cross-strait astronomy camp, with junior high school students from Beijing joining their counterparts in Taiwan for a week of cultural exchange and study of the heavens.
The Tosun Public Interest Foundation, an organization that deals with youth issues, organized the program, in which 20 students from China and 40 from Taiwan will participate in the week-long camp and tour the nation.
The camp officially begins tomorrow and will last until Friday.
Liao Cheng-hao (廖正豪), the foundation's director, said that the astronomy camp will take place on Alishan and Yushan, where there are clear skies that offer an excellent view of planets and stars.
Liao said that the camp was a rare opportunity for youth from both sides of the Taiwan Strait to meet and learn from one another.
Foundation vice executive director Viviane Tien (
Jing Hairong (
Jing said that the Chinese students will share what they learned in Taiwan with other students upon their return to Beijing.
Liu Ge, an eighth-grade student and member of the astronomy club of Beijing's Jingshang Middle School, said it was her first visit to Taiwan, and that she was excited to learn about the students here as well as view the heavens from Taiwan.
Miao Jun (
A representative from the Taipei astronomical museum, Chiang Chung-jen (江崇仁), said that astronomical education in Taiwan consisted of just a few science classes at school, which only covered the basics. Schools should do more to emphasize astronomy, Chiang said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS