ENERGY
Taiwan on exemption list
Taiwan is one of seven countries that will be exempt from economic sanctions for importing Iranian oil, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced on Monday. In a statement released by the US Department of State, Clinton said India, Malaysia, South Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan would be exempted because of their significant reduction of oil imports from Iran. The seven join 11 other countries, including Japan and some EU nations, that were put on the exemption list in March. US President Barack Obama signed a bill at the end of last year to expand US sanctions against Iran, covering its central bank and financial sectors, a move that allows penalties on foreign banks that settle oil imports with the Iranian central bank. However, the law exempts firms from countries that significantly reduce their crude imports from Iran. Oil imports from Iran are estimated to account for only 4 percent of Taiwan’s total oil imports. Officials have not revealed the amount of Taiwan’s reduction.
DIPLOMACY
Ministers go to APEC talks
Three ministers will attend a series of APEC ministerial level meetings in Russia this month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The ministers will share their views on energy security, women’s business opportunities and health financing with their counterparts in St Petersburg, Lily Hsu (徐儷文), head of the Department of International Organizations, said at a routine press conference.
SOCIETY
Abusive dog catchers fired
A contractor hired by state-run Taiwan Port Co to catch stray dogs at Kaohsiung Port has been fired because of animal abuse, a port official said on Monday. It was reported that the contractor’s employees had mistreated a dog while catching strays at the port earlier this month. The dog died two days later. In response to a public outcry over the incident, the port said it had rescinded the contract on Wednesday last week after an investigation into the animal’s death. The Greater Kaohsiung City Government’s Animal Protection Office would take over the task of catching strays at the harbor, said Chang Chan-jung (張展榮), head of the labor safety division at Kaohsiung Port. The contractor could face a fine of between NT$15,000 and NT$75,000 under the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), Animal Protection Office deputy director Chu Chia-te (朱家德) said.
EDUCATION
US group awards academic
A prestigious US organization granted an award to a Taiwanese researcher from Academia Sinica, the country’s highest academic institution, for contributions he made to transdisciplinary education and research. Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗), a former minister of education, was named the recipient of this year’s Academy Gold Medal of Honor, which was awarded by the non-profit organization Academy of Transdisciplinary Learning and Advanced Studies (TheATLAS). The annual award “recognizes unusual accomplishment in transdisciplinary education and research, public service and other allied pursuits beneficial to design and process science,” TheATLAS Web site says. Tzeng accepted the award at TheATLAS 2012 Biennial Meeting at Asia University in Greater Taichung, which started on Tuesday last week. TheATLAS was founded in 2000 to promote transdisciplinary education and research.
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
Taiwan must first strengthen its own national defense to deter a potential invasion by China as cross-strait tensions continue to rise, multiple European lawmakers said on Friday. In a media interview in Taipei marking the conclusion of an eight-member European parliamentary delegation’s six-day visit to Taiwan, the lawmakers urged Taipei to remain vigilant and increase defense spending. “All those who claim they want to protect you actually want to conquer you,” Ukrainian lawmaker Serhii Soboliev said when asked what lessons Taiwan could draw from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Soboliev described the Kremlin as a “new fascist Nazi regime” that justified
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