SOCIETY
Ma accepts nuclear petition
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) accepted a petition on nuclear safety presented yesterday by officials from the Yenliao Anti-Nuclear Self-Help Association during a climate change forum. Ma was presiding over the closing ceremony of the forum, at which the activists raised their concerns. Association secretary-general Yang Mu-huo (楊木火) said the government should ensure the safety of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, which according to experts could be crippled in the event of a tsunami. According to the four-page petition, based on a report conducted by professors from National Cheng Kung University, the 12m seawall protecting the plant would be useless in the face of a major tsunami.
SOCIETY
Summer activities cut back
About 40 percent of parents are reducing their budgets for their children’s summer activities because of the rising costs of living, a survey said yesterday. Twenty-three percent of parents said they would not send their children to summer camp this year, the survey found. When arranging summer activities, 76 percent of parents said their top consideration was the “content,” or what the activity involved, while 44 percent said they look at the costs involved. Family travel is the most popular summer activity, favored by 56 percent of parents, followed by private tuition and classes. The poll by the King Car Education Foundation surveyed 1,152 parents and 1,201 fourth to sixth-grade students.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
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