■ TRANSPORTATION
KRTC holds photo contest
The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) launched a “Dome of Light” photography competition at the mass-rapid transit (MRT) system’s Formosa Boulevard Station yesterday, offering a top prize of NT$50,000 in cash. Photography enthusiasts and members of photo clubs poured into the station on the first day of the two-day competition to try to get the best shot of the “Dome of Light,” the largest single glass artistic production in the world, which was designed by Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata. The KRTC is holding the competition as part of efforts to promote the upcoming launch of the Kaohsiung MRT’s Orange Line scheduled for late next month. The Formosa Boulevard Station will connect the Red Line with the new line. The first day of the competition also included a screening of a film explaining Quagliata’s glass art creation. Contestants can send their photograph entries along with a 200-word essay about their photo to the Dimension Endowment of Art between Monday and Aug. 1, the KRTC said.
■ CONTEST
Seeking outstanding youth
The Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representative Office yesterday invited all Republic of China (ROC) passport holders between the ages 20 and 40 to compete in the 46th Annual Top Ten Outstanding Youth of the Year competition. All ROC passport holders, regardless of place of residence, who were born between Aug. 1, 1968, and Dec. 31, 1987, are eligible for nomination. Applicants must have their letters of reference postmarked by Aug. 15 sent to Junior Chamber International Taiwan. The letter must be accompanied by six 5cm pictures of the candidate taken within the past six months, a copy of his or her ROC national identity card or passport, and 16 copies of the recommendation letter. More information is available at www.taiwanjc.org.tw.
■ SOCIETY
Birth rate slightly down
A total of 95,789 births were recorded in Taiwan during the first half of this year, 1.1 percent fewer than during the same period last year, the Ministry of the Interior said in a report released on Friday. The number translates into a birth rate of 4.17 childbirths per 1,000 people during the first six months or 8.38 childbirths per 1,000 people annually, the report said. The annual crude birth rate marked a drop of 0.54 points compared with last year, when there were 8.92 births per 1,000 people, indicating a slow decline in the birth rate, the report said. Of the babies born during the first half of this year, 50,243 were boys and 45,546 were girls, representing a sex ratio of 110.31 boys for every 100 girls. About 90 percent of the babies were born to Taiwanese mothers, 5 percent to mothers from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and 4.8 percent to mothers of other nationalities.
■ DIPLOMACY
Gonsalves arrives on visit
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is expected to arrive in Taiwan today. He will be accompanied by his wife and an eight-member delegation, which is scheduled to meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Gonsalves will also tour various cultural and economic sites to gain a better understanding of the nation’s development. This will mark Gonsalves’ sixth visit to Taiwan as prime minister. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines established diplomatic relations with the Republic of China in August 1981. It has supported Taiwan’s bid to join various international organizations.
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
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by