DIPLOMACY
No Africa trip for Ma soon
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is not scheduled to visit Africa, but he will likely visit the continent at some point during his second term in office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. “There is a need for him to make such a visit,” Department of African Affairs Director-General Hsu Mien-sheng (徐勉生) said. He said that Ma visited the nation’s allies in the South Pacific and in Central and South America after taking office in 2008, but he did not go to Africa. Ma was scheduled to tour four diplomatic allies in Africa — Gambia, Burkina Faso, Swaziland and Sao Tome and Principe — last year, but the visit was postponed due to political turbulence abroad. African leaders were looking forward to a visit by Ma, said Hsu, who accompanied Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang earlier this year to the inauguration ceremony of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. Amid media speculation that Ma is set to make such a trip next month, Hsu said lots of administrative work is required and he hinted that there would not be enough time to prepare. “He’s still got four years in his term, so he should visit at some point,” Hsu said.
SOCIETY
Lottery profits top NT$100bn
The net profit of the Public Welfare Lottery since 2007, when Taiwan Lottery Co took it over, exceeded NT$100 billion (US$3.38 billion) as of the end of December, the company said. Taiwan Lottery said earlier this week that it recorded NT$1.94 billion in net profit in December, which is the amount of sales minus the prize money paid out and administrative fees. This brought the total net profit used to subsidize social welfare programs to NT$100.67 billion, the company said. According to government regulations, 50 percent of the net profit is given to local governments for social welfare programs and charitable purposes, 45 percent is allotted to the national pension fund and 5 percent is used as reserves for the national health insurance program.
WEATHER
Temperature set to rise
Temperatures around the nation were expected to start rising yesterday as a cold front from China moves on, the Central Weather Bureau said. While the mercury dipped to lows of about 10oC in some areas, the bureau said warmer and drier weather is expected. The bureau said highs could reach 19oC in northern and eastern Taiwan, 22oC in central Taiwan and 24oC in the south. However, the bureau cautioned that sporadic rainy periods are likely in the east until the weekend, while cloudy weather is expected in most other areas.
DIPLOMACY
Diplomat calls for truce
Representative to the Philippines Raymond Wang (王樂生) said yesterday that Chinese and Taiwanese representatives and expatriate groups abroad should set aside their differences following warming ties across the Taiwan Strait. Wang, who was sworn in on Jan. 31, said that despite closer exchanges between Taiwan and China, groups representing the two sides in the Philippines remain hostile because of their divergent political stances. The “diplomatic truce” between the two sides should be extended to representative groups in countries outside of Taiwan and China, Wang said while visiting a Chinese-language media organization in Manila. He cited an instance in which Chinese personnel waited outside the Republic of China National Day reception and recorded the names of expatriate leaders who attended the event. Wang said it was
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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