POLITICS
Wuer Kaixi invited to Japan
Former Chinese student leader Wuer Kaixi (吾爾開希) will be one of the Chinese activists invited to represent imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) at a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates in Hiroshima next month, a press report said on Wednesday. Wuer, 42, a leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing who once studied with Liu, will read a message on Liu’s behalf at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, to be held from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14, Kyodo news agency said. Liu, was sentenced to 11 years in prison last December on subversion charges after co-authoring a manifesto calling for political reform in China. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 8.
DIPLOMACY
Former Japanese PM to visit
Shinzo Abe, who served as prime minister of Japan from September 2006 to September 2007, will arrive in Taiwan for a two-day visit on Sunday on the maiden flight between Taipei Songshan Airport and Japan’s Haneda Airport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Abe’s visit will make him the second former Japanese prime minister to visit Taiwan this year, following a visit by Taro Aso in April. According to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), the head of the Taiwan-Japan Parliament Member Association, Abe will meet with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) during his stay.
FINANCE
New loan rules introduced
The Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) yesterday said that in the future, those who provide sufficient collateral for home or car loans would not need to provide a guarantor. CPC Consumer Ombudsman Huang Chien-lung (黃建隆) said the commission recently passed revisions to regulations governing the items that must be recorded in the standard Personal Car and Housing Loan Standard Contract. One of the most significant changes to the rules is that banking institutions must not require a debtor to provide a guarantor if he or she has sufficient collateral to cover the loan. The revisions would also protect consumers from unfair deals by allowing them to halt monetary transactions in the event that the car or home purchased is defective or has other problems not disclosed in the contract. The rules will become effective after an announcement by the Financial Supervisory Commission.
TRAVEL
Missing woman calls home
A 27-year-old Taiwanese woman surnamed Lin (林) who was reported missing in Malaysia after a serious argument with her French boyfriend called her family yesterday after being out of reach for nine days. Lin and her boyfriend arrived in Malaysia for a short vacation on Oct. 11. Friends said the couple had a quarrel which led to a break-up on Oct. 19. Lin decided to continue the trip on her own, but no one heard from her for nine days. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang (章計平) said yesterday afternoon Lin’s mother received a phone call from her daughter, who is on Tioman Island 32km off the east coast of Malaysia. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia had said on Wednesday that Lin was listed as missing in Malaysia and that the local police had passed her information to the International Criminal Police Organization, although departure records indicated she was still in Malaysia.
TRAVEL
MOFA issues warning
Taiwanese visiting India and Bali are advised to be alert health-wise, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) Bureau of Consular Affairs said yesterday. Cases of chikungunya fever have increased in the New Delhi area over the past two weeks, while the city is also battling a dengue fever epidemic. Meanwhile, Bali is trying to bring a rabies epidemic under control, the bureau said. Visitors to these areas are advised to check information on the Centers for Diseases Control Web site, the bureau said.
ENVIRONMENT
Spoonbills begin to arrive
A total of 347 black-faced spoonbills had arrived in Tainan County’s wetlands as of Wednesday, the Wildlife Conversation Institute of Tainan County said. The first of the endangered species to arrive was observed on Sept. 26, about one week later than usual because of Typhoon Fanapi, said Chiu Jen-wu (邱仁武), chairman of the institute. The birds migrate each autumn from northern China and the Korean Peninsula, with some choosing to spend the winter on wetlands near Tainan’s Zengwen River (曾文溪) estuary. By Oct. 16 there were 68 spoonbills. Now that the northeasterly monsoon winds are stronger, the numbers could reach 500 by Sunday and peak next month, Chu said.
POLITICS
Pledges met in miniature
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Sinbei City mayoral candidate Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) supporters have been busy in the past two weeks making some of his key promises come to life — in miniature form. They have crafted a miniature version of the to-be-formed Sinbei City using more than 30,000 Lego bricks, including a functioning rail system representing Chu’s pledge to expand the area’s MRT system.
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
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