■ TRADE
Kao leads delegation to PRC
Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉), secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), is scheduled to visit regions adjacent to the Bohai Sea in northern China from today until July 11 to promote Chinese investment in Taiwan. Kao said that apart from encouraging Chinese enterprises to invest in Taiwan, he would also help to set up cooperation channels for companies on the two sides of the Strait and would explore feasible opportunities for Taiwanese businesses. Kao will lead a delegation to Qingdao in handong Province and Shenyang and Dalian in Liaoning Province. Over the past year, SEF personnel have held several seminars for Taiwanese businesses in the Yangzhe River Delta, Pearl River Delta and coastal areas of Fujian Province, where there are higher concentrations of businesses from Taiwan, he said.
■ SPORTS
National flags prepared
The national flags of 105 countries and areas have been prepared for the July 16 opening ceremony of the World Games in Kaohsiung. The flags will be distributed by the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC) and will be flown at the various stadiums, venues and exhibitions related to the Games. The flags cost the organizers NT$900,000, the KOC said. The Games, which will run through July 26, are expected to attract participants from the 105 countries and areas, with the 4,000 competing athletes representing 90 nationalities. During the 11-day competition, 26 official sports, five invitational sports and various other activities and exhibitions are scheduled. The KOC said there would be at least six events per day, with some days seeing as many as 14 events.
■ CRIME
Corruption report out soon
The Executive Yuan plans to make public a report on alleged corruption in the military on Wednesday and present an action plan “to clean up the government,” Vice Minister of Justice (MOJ) Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) said yesterday. Huang said the Ministry of Defense (MND) and his ministry had both presented their reports to the Executive Yuan, but he declined to reveal any of the contents before they are published on Wednesday at a Central Integrity Council meeting to be chaired by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄). The Council is composed of 15 Cabinet members and three experts representing civil organizations — Red Cross Society of the Republic of China president C.V. Chen (陳長文), Hung Yung-tai (洪永泰), a professor of politics at National Taiwan University and chairman of Transparency International-Taiwan, and Chilik Yu (余致力), a professor of public administration at Shih Hsin University.
■ SPORTS
Students set off on canoes
A group of students set off from the northeastern coast yesterday on a round-the-nation canoeing trip, hoping to use the challenging voyage to convey their love for their homeland and the sea and to promote water sports. More than 30 National Taiwan Ocean University students and recent graduates will row three two-man canoes in a 1,006km relay that will take one and a half months to complete. The canoes set off from Dawulun beach in Keelung City and will circumnavigate Taiwan in an anti-clockwise direction. Huang Wei-lun (黃偉倫), head of the round-the-nation canoeing team, said that while students take turns rowing, the others will take a boat and photograph the canoes, the coastal landscape and ecological changes along the coast.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
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