■ POLITICS
Ex-premier flown home
Former premier and minister of national defense Tang Fei (唐飛) returned to Taiwan yesterday on a charter flight after falling ill during a trip to China, sources at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport said. Tang and his family were visiting relatives when he developed pneumonia and was rushed to a hospital. His family then asked for help from the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), the semi-official organization authorized by Beijing to handle cross-strait affairs. With ARATS assistance, Tang’s family arranged a charter flight from Dalian, Liaoning Province, the sources said. An ARATS official said Tang’s condition had improved before he boarded the flight. Chinese officials said the 78-year-old fell ill while in Changchun, Jilin Province. He was sent to a hospital after developing a fever and pneumonia, and was in a stable condition.
■ POLITICS
Control Yuan censures MOJ
The Control Yuan censured the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday over a delay in processing a request to help a former Taiwanese intelligence officer receive medical leave from a Chinese prison. Wang Chang-yung (王長勇) suffered a stroke while imprisoned in China on Dec. 20 and his family wanted him to receive medical treatment in Taiwan under a cross-strait judicial cooperation agreement. The ministry received the application on Dec. 25 and issued a “very urgent” reply to the family on Jan. 18 asking for a consent letter signed by Wang to process the document. Wang died of complications from the stroke on Jan. 5. The ministry said in a press release that there was no information regarding Wang’s critical condition in the application. The Control Yuan, however, said that the family had attached a notice of critical illness issued by a hospital in Putian, Fujian Province, on Dec. 21. In the report, the Control Yuan said the ministry overlooked the importance of the matter and later tried to cover up its mistake.
■HORTICULTURE
Price of roses climbs
As Lovers’ Day (七夕, or chihsi) approaches, the wholesale price of roses has climbed to between NT$250 and NT$500 per 20-flower bunch, up to 20 percent higher than at non-holiday times, an official from the Taipei Flowers Auction Co said on Wednesday. Chihsi falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, Aug. 16 this year. Chen Ken-wang (陳根旺), a section manager at the flower company, predicted that the price for a three-flower arrangement would be between NT$300 and NT$500, and for 11-flower arrangements between NT$1,000 and NT$1,500.
■HORTICULTURE
Expo set to bring big bucks
The Taipei International Flora Expo, scheduled to open in November, will generate an estimated NT$16.8 billion (US$535 million) in economic benefits, a Taipei City official said yesterday. Of that amount, an estimated NT$2.8 billion will come directly from ticket sales, corporate sponsorship and royalties, said Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文), director of the Taipei City Government’s Department of Economic Development and chief executive officer of the Flora Expo. “Ticket sales alone are likely to reach an estimated NT$1.36 billion, as 7.2 million Taiwanese and 800,000 foreigners are expected to visit the exhibition,” Chen said. In addition, NT$14 billion will be generated indirectly from taxes, the flower industry and the hospitality industry, which is forecast to see benefits of NT$11.2 billion during the five-month exhibition period, Chen said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
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