DISASTER RELIEF
Philippines get more aid
Taiwan sent another two cargo planes filled with relief supplies to the storm-ravaged Philippines on Tuesday, bringing the number of shipments on military C-130 planes to 14 since Nov. 12. Tuesday’s flights carried 16 tonnes of supplies, the Ministry of National Defense said, bringing the total to nearly 100 tonnes of relief supplies for survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. The two aircraft arrived in Cebu at 3pm on Tuesday. The airlifts are part of Taiwan’s aid to the Philippines following the devastation brought by Haiyan, one of the strongest storms on record, which tore through the central Philippines on Nov. 8. The Cabinet has announced plans to set up a donation center and encouraged the public to deliver water, food, sleeping bags and medicine to Tsoying Naval Base in Greater Kaohsiung by Sunday. The collected supplies will be transported to storm-devastated areas of the Philippines once the defense ministry collects 10 tonnes.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
ARATS chairman to visit
China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) is scheduled to arrive in Taipei on Tuesday next week for an eight-day visit, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) announced yesterday. It will be Chen’s first trip to Taiwan since he took over as ARATS chairman. Chen will be heading a delegation of ARATS officials on the visit, which is aimed at promoting cross-strait trade and economic cooperation, the SEF statement said, adding that Chen will visit the nation’s free economic pilot zones, major Taiwanese conglomerates and China-funded companies. Chen is also to meet with former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmen Lien Chan (連戰) and Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), as well as some local government heads.
ASTRONOMY
Sunspots can be seen
A large group of sunspots will be visible with specialized equipment over the weekend as solar activity reaches its peak, according to the Taipei Astronomical Museum. The sunspots will be one of the most noticeable solar events since the sun entered a period of increasing magnetic field turbulence last year, museum official Chang Kuei-lan (張桂蘭) said. Chang added that the museum would provide professional equipment and assist astronomy buffs in catching the spectacle. The combined group, known as AR1897, stretches for more than 350,000km — about 27 times the diameter of Earth. The best times to see the spots are in the early morning and late evening when there is not much sunlight, the museum said.
FISHERIES
Tilapia’s image restored
Taiwanese tilapia farmers and vendors promoted their fish at an event in Seoul yesterday, seeking to undo the damage caused by a report aired on South Korea’s Channel A TV station. Taiwan Tilapia Alliance chairman Tsai Chun-hsiung (蔡俊雄) said Taiwan-bred tilapia is of high quality, inexpensive, nutritious and, most importantly, safe. The conference at a Seoul hotel was organized in response to Channel A’s program Food X-File, which in an Oct. 25 broadcast showed images of ponds covered in algae that it said were tilapia farms in Taiwan. A correction was later posted on the program’s Web site explaining that the images were of abandoned facilities. Correcting the image of Taiwan’s industry is important to tilapia producers because South Korea is the nation’s biggest market for the fish, according to the alliance’s statistics.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
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