■ POLITICS
Calendar causes stir
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) yesterday drew attention to a calendar for next year produced by Taoyuan County Council bearing the signatures of council speaker Tseng Chung-yi (曾忠義) and vice speaker Chou Yi-shen (邱義勝) that had Oct. 1 marked as National Day and July 1 as “Reunification Day.” Both Tseng and Chou are members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Hsueh said Taiwan’s National Day is Oct. 10, and Oct. 1 is China’s. Reunification Day could be referring to the KMT’s timetable for unification with China, he said. The calendar has been produced as a gift for Taoyuan residents, the legislator said.
■CULTURE
Minister showcases expo
Visitors can enjoy traditional theater, gourmet, games and shopping at the Taiwan Hakka Exposition to be officially launched on Saturday, Council for Hakka Affairs Minister Huang Yu-chen (黃玉振) announced yesterday. “We’ve spent more than NT$100 million [US$3 million] in planning for the exposition,” Huang told a news conference at the council yesterday. “The expo ground will be divided into 11 areas, and I assure you that you can always find something delicious, spectacular and fun there.” Visitors can learn about outstanding Taiwanese Hakkas, traditional Hakka holidays and the history of Hakkas in Taiwan. They can also buy traditional Hakka products and enjoy Hakka cuisine. “We’ve invited more than 80 Hakka businesses and more than 100 performing troupes to participate in the exposition,” Huang said. The exposition will be held at the Taipei County Hakka Museum in Sansia Township (三峽), and will last until Feb. 15. Shuttle buses will depart from nearby Yingge Railway Station and Yongning MRT station. For further details, visit:
www.hakkaexpo.com.tw.
■TRANSPORTATION
Angkor flights to resume
TransAsia Airways is scheduled to launch its first direct charter flight on Friday between Taipei and the Cambodian city of Siem Reap, the gateway to the world renowned temple complex of Angkor Wat. Far Eastern Air Transport, which in cooperation with Cambodia-based Angkor Airways used to provide regularly scheduled flights on the route, canceled the service in May because of financial difficulties. TransAsia Airways will fly 15 charter flights a month, serving only tour groups and travelers that join foreign independent travel packages offered by travel agencies. The initial response to the charter scheme, which will continue for at least a year, has been good, with the first two scheduled flights already fully booked, the representative said.
■AGRICULTURE
Jujubes sent to Canada
A 2.5 tonne batch of Chinese dates produced in Pingtung County has been shipped to Canada recently, the first fruit of this kind to be exported abroad this year, the Pingtung Department of Agriculture said yesterday. New orders for the Chinese dates, also known as jujubes, or honey dates, have also been received from China and shipments are expected to be dispatched shortly, department officials said. Meanwhile, Cheng Shuang-chuan (鄭雙銓), chief of Pingtung’s Yenpu Township (鹽埔), is scheduled to lead some 80 jujube farmers to Taipei from Friday to Saturday to boost sales of the fruit. Jujubes are poised to become the second flagship fruit from Pingtung County behind the bell fruit, which has been a good earner for Pingtung’s farmers.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai