DIPLOMACY
MOFA extends condolences
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday extended its condolences to the family of former Japanese prime minister Toshiki Kaifu, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 91. Members of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan would visit Kaifu’s family and extend their condolences on Taiwan’s behalf, the ministry said, describing Kaifu as a respected leader for his contributions to world peace and democracy. Kaifu was a friend of Taiwan, having led a delegation in May 2019 to meet with William Lai (賴清德) about eight months before Lai was elected vice president, the ministry said. As prime minister from 1989 to 1991, Kaifu was best known for deploying the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Persian Gulf in 1991 during the Gulf War. His involvement garnered him a reputation as one of the biggest contributors to international stability.
DIPLOMACY
Lai reportedly tapped for Honduras trip
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) is reportedly to send Vice President William Lai (賴清德) as a special envoy to Honduras to congratulate Honduran president-elect Xiomara Castro on her inauguration on Jan. 27. Lai’s outbound trip would include a stop-over in the US. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his successor have invited Tsai to attend the inauguration ceremony. Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) yesterday said that plans for the event, including who to send, have not yet been finalized. The Presidential Office would announce its plans at an appropriate time, he added. A source yesterday said that the office’s response is standard procedure, as the government would make an official announcement only after the plan is finalized.
ELECTIONS
‘Nine-in-one’ date set
The “nine-in-one” local elections are to be held on Nov. 26, the Central Election Commission announced yesterday. The local elections, which take place every four years, select mayors and city councilors in the special municipalities of Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung; county commissioners, mayors, councilors, and township majors and representatives in the other 16 counties and county-level cities; and village and borough wardens in 22 localities. Elections would also be held for district administrators and representatives of mountainous indigenous districts in the six special municipalities. Those who wish to run for the position of mayors and councilors in municipalities, counties and county-level cities would have to register from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2, the election commission said, adding that it would post a notice on Aug. 18.
ENVIRONMENT
Water recycling plant opens
Taiwan’s second water recycling plant was formally opened in a ceremony in Kaohsiung yesterday. The Kaohsiung Linhai Wastewater Treatment Plant has been contributing 33,000m3 of water to the city’s industry per day since it started operating late last year. It has been providing water to five companies, including state-run China Steel Corp and CPC Corp, Taiwan, the Kaohsiung Water Resources Bureau said. Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that the plant is equipped with the country’s first high-end wastewater test center. Taiwan’s first water recycling plant opened in Kaohsiung’s Fengshan District (鳳山) in 2019 and produces 45,000m3 of water per day, the bureau said. The bureau is planning to build two more plants in the city, it said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai