■ POLITICS
Swiss office marks 25 years
Taiwan's democratic development has been amazing, said Hans-Peter Fitze, deputy director of the Trade Office of Swiss Industries, in a press conference yesterday marking the 25th anniversary of the Swiss office in Taipei. Fitze said that approximately 50,000 Taiwanese tourists travel to Switzerland annually and he hoped to see the figure increase. Cultural and commerce exchanges have also increased over the years, he said. To celebrate 25 years of friendship, the Swiss office will hold a concert tomorrow featuring Swiss musician Eliana Burki, who will play the alphorn -- a traditional instrument played by Swiss mountain dwellers -- to modern funk and jazz tunes. The 24-year-old Burki started playing the 3m long instrument at the age of six. She will perform compositions from her own album, as well as some Taiwanese Aboriginal songs. The free event will start at 4pm at the Taipei Museum of Drinking Water.
■ CULTURE
Hakka opera next weekend
Rom Shing Hakka Opera Troupe (榮興客家採茶劇團) will present Brave Heart of 1895 (乙未丹心), a new composition based on traditional Hakka opera, in Taipei next Friday to Sunday. Produced in cooperation with the Council for Hakka Affairs, Brave Heart recounts the life of Wu Tang-hsing (吳湯興), a legendary resistance leader during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. It will be shown at the Novel Hall at No. 3-1 Songshou Road. For more information, visit the council's Web site at www.hakka.gov.tw.
■ SECURITY
Hacking not encouraged
The National Security Bureau (NSB) has never advocated hacking activities nor any other type of attack on computer and Internet systems at home or abroad, the bureau said in a news release on Thursday. The statement was issued in response to a report by the Chinese-language China Times alleging that the NSB, the Ministry of National Defense and the Bureau of Military Intelligence often hack into each other's systems. Dismissing the report, the NSB said that Taiwan is a democratic country under the rule of law and the bureau has always behaved in line with the law. Any attempt to hack into a computer system or to steal classified information is illegal, it said. The NSB also responded to a recent report by the Chinese media accusing Taiwan's military and intelligence agencies of launching Internet attacks and stealing confidential data from China. The NSB said the report was an attempt by the Chinese government to shift attention away from Chinese hackers' attacks on other countries to collect intelligence.
■ AGRICULTURE
Strawberries top fruity poll
Strawberries beat mangoes to become the nation's No.1 fruit, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday. In a poll to determine the top 10 most popular fruits produced in the country, strawberries garnered approximately 197,000 votes with mangoes a close second with 187,000 votes. The poll ended on Wednesday. Strawberries were said to have been trailing behind mangoes and did not lead the race until three hours before the poll ended. The result was credited to a successful mobilization initiated by the Da Hu Farmers Association. The other eight fruits in the top 10 list were bell fruits, buddha head fruits, pears, lychees, grapes, bananas, watermelons and pineapples.
■ TOURISM
Weather limits sightseeing
The number of visits to local sightseeing spots and amusement parks dropped to 6.33 million in the first nine months of the year, a 16.32 percent reduction from the same period last year, statistics released by the Tourism Bureau this week show. The drop was attributed to rainy weather triggered by several cold fronts in March and April and four typhoons in August and September, Tourism Bureau officials said. They said the bureau would devise measures to help boost the local tourism industry.
■ SPORTS
Kaohsiung mulls Wang deal
The Kaohsiung City Government is studying the feasibility of renewing an agreement with the New York Yankees' Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民) to extend his services as spokesman for the 2009 World Games to be held in the city, an official said yesterday. Shih Che (史哲), director of the city's Department of Information, who is in charge of marketing for the World Games, told reporters that his department would conduct a further study on the issue with Chi Cheng (紀政), chief executive of the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee for the 2009 World Games, before making a final decision. Kaohsiung last year invited Wang to serve as the spokesman of the Games by paying his agent US$500,000 for a series of endorsement activities. The World Games, scheduled for July 17 to July 26, will be the largest international sporting event ever held in Taiwan. An estimated 6,000 athletes are expected to take part.
■ AGRICULTURE
Coast Guard seizes crabs
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) seized 3.5 tonnes of smuggled hairy crabs yesterday, the largest ever haul of its kind, CGA officials said. The seizure was made in Luchu Township (蘆竹), Taoyuan County, in a raid by the CGA's North Coast Patrol Office. They had received a tip-off that a ring was preparing to smuggle a large quantity of hairy crabs from China into Taiwan, the officials said. They said the hairy crabs have been sent to quarantine authorities for inspection to determine if they were contaminated with any toxins.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
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