DIPLOMACY
Slovakia delegation to visit
A 10-member delegation led by Deputy Speaker of the Slovak National Council Milan Laurencik and President of the Bratislava Region Juraj Droba is to visit Taiwan from Sunday to Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The pair will be joined by five Slovak lawmakers, including Peter Osusky, chairman of the Slovakia-Taiwan Parliamentary Group. Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) is set to honor Osusky with the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy in recognition of his promotion of bilateral relations, the ministry said, adding that Wu would also sign an agreement on judicial cooperation in civic matters with the delegation. This is the second contingent Slovakia has sent to Taiwan in six months, after a 43-member delegation led by the country’s deputy economic minister visited Taiwan in December last year.
CULTURE
Australian arts deal inked
The National Culture and Arts Foundation and the Australian Office in Taipei have signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance exchanges in the fields of art and culture. The agreement was signed in Taipei on Wednesday by Australian Representative to Taiwan Jenny Bloomfield and foundation chairwoman Lin Mun-lee (林曼麗), they said in a joint statement. The countries have agreed to establish programs to support and encourage exchanges between Taiwanese and Australian artists, especially those from indigenous backgrounds. They are also to support cooperation in a range of other areas, including the visual and performing arts, literature and professional education. Bloomfield said Australia and Taiwan have a long history of arts and cultural cooperation, adding that “First Wave,” an upcoming indigenous fashion exhibition scheduled to run from next month to September, would showcase the strong links between the indigenous arts, culture, and creative industries of Australia and Taiwan.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Local schools ranked
Six Taiwanese universities have been ranked among the 100 best in Asia, with National Taiwan University (NTU) placing in the 21st, the UK-based Times Higher Education said on Wednesday. Other top-ranked local schools include Taipei Medical University (29th), China Medical University (35th), Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (44th), Tsing Hua University (59th), and Asia University (78th). NTU dropped one spot from last year, while the number of Taiwanese universities in the top 100 decreased from eight to six. The report’s top 10 universities in Asia included Tsinghua University and Peking University in China, National University of Singapore, University of Hong Kong and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
CRIME
Photos of minors net jail term
The Taiwan High Court on Wednesday ruled that a man given a 104-year sentence for soliciting nude photos from girls as young as eight must serve at least six years in prison. The Supreme Court said that 26-year-old Lin He-chun (林和駿) enticed 81 girls to send him nude and obscene photos. Lin was handed an additional 34-month sentence for nine other offenses, including sharing nude photos of underage girls and committing sexual indecency with minors. The High Court ruled that Lin should serve a minimum of six years of his sentence, in addition to 18 months of the 34-month sentence, which can be commuted to a fine.
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
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