DIPLOMACY
Tuvalu minister lands today
Tuvaluan Minister of Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs Simon Kofe is to arrive in Taiwan today for a six-day visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Kofe would witness the signing of three bilateral deals between Taiwan and Tuvalu during his stay, the ministry said. The agreements would pave the way for cooperation between the two sides in the areas of diplomat training, technical exchanges and mutual legal assistance, the ministry said. In addition to meeting with government officials, Kofe would also meet with representatives of Taiwanese enterprises developing submarine cables and other communication networks, it said. Kofe is hoping to learn from Taiwan’s experience, as his country is working to improve its digital infrastructure, the ministry said. Tuvalu is an important Pacific ally of Taiwan, and the two countries have developed close partnerships in the areas of information technology, agriculture, fisheries, clean energy and public health, it added. Tuvalu established diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979.
FOOD SAFETY
More truffles fail testing
Another shipment of fresh truffles imported from Europe recently failed a customs inspection as it was found to contain excessive levels of a heavy metal, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday. The agency said that 3.5kg of truffles imported by Taipei-based iTaste International Co from Spain were destroyed after they failed safety tests. The fungus was found to contain cadmium at a concentration of 3 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), compared with the legal limit of 2mg/kg, it said, adding that it was the seventh shipment of truffles iTaste has imported since last year that were found to be substandard. Taiwan imported 1,844kg of fresh truffles in 321 batches from different places of origin last year, of which 29kg from nine shipments was substandard, the agency said. iTaste had imported 23kg from six of the nine batches: a 2kg shipment from France, a 4kg shipment from Bulgaria and four shipments from Italy that totaled 17kg, it said. As a result, the agency said it has raised the inspection rate to 100 percent for all iTaste truffles imported from Italy and has tightened similar checks on iTaste’s truffles from other countries.
ECOLOGY
Fishers paid to pause
The Tainan Agricultural Bureau is offering fishers subsidies for voluntarily pausing their fishing operations in a bid to conserve fisheries in the seas near Taiwan and cut carbon emissions. From 2003, the Fisheries Agency has decreased ship fuel subsidies while rewarding fishers for voluntarily pausing their operations to alleviate the ecological pressures on the fish habitats off Taiwan proper, the bureau said. More than 900 Tainan-based fishing boats participated in the voluntary pause every year after 2018, saving 4,300 kiloliters of fuel and 11,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, it said. Eligible fishers include operators of boats that have gone to the sea at least 90 times, logged at least 270 operating hours and refrained from fishing for at least 120 days since Sept. 1 last year, it said, adding that subsidies would be offered until Aug. 31. The subsidies do not apply to live fish transports, largehead hairtail transports, fishing boats used for tourism and boats used for harvesting in exclusive fishing right fisheries, it said. Any eligible fishing boat, sampan or raft that has paused operations would receive at least NT$20,000, with operators of bigger vessels receiving more, it said.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
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