DIPLOMACY
Ma departs for summit
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday departed for Singapore to attend the Asia Future Summit being held today and tomorrow, his office said. Ma was invited by the Chinese-language Lianhe Zaobao newspaper to speak at the summit, which is being organized for the first time by the Straits Times and the Business Times to mark the contribution of former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀) to promoting peace across the Taiwan Strait, the statement said. During the visit, Ma is also to lead a delegation of 30 Taiwanese students from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation’s Dajiu Academy to visit Singapore’s public housing units, port operation control centers and the Singapore City Gallery, it said.
DIPLOMACY
Paris deputy mayor to visit
Paris Deputy Mayor Jean-Luc Romero-Michel on Monday announced a plan to visit Taiwan and attend the LGBT Pride parade at the end of this month. In addition to making the announcement on X after meeting with Representative to France Francois Wu (吳志中) on Monday, Romero-Michel said: “I reaffirmed my support against pressure from China.” Taiwan, the first nation in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize same-sex marriage, is to hold the parade on Oct. 28. “I will be there,” Romero-Michel said. As deputy mayor, Romero-Michel is in charge of human rights affairs, and is at the forefront of supporting democracy and freedom. He has attended many demonstrations in Paris in support of the rights of Uighurs and Tibetans. He has also on several occasions publicly supported Taiwan and condemned China’s intimidation, including at the centenary celebration of the International Federation for Human Rights in October last year.
DIPLOMACY
St Lucia trip a success
Forty “youth ambassadors” have concluded a 10-day-trip to St Lucia to enhance bilateral exchanges and people-to-people ties with the Caribbean ally, said Constance Wang (王雪虹), head of the Department of NGO International Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Taiwanese aged 18 to 35 were in St Lucia from Sept. 2 to 11. Wang said that the ministry recruited people who have won cooking contests to be part of the delegation for the first time. Having four skilled young Taiwanese chefs in St Lucia was a success, she said, adding that they had planned to hold one baking workshop, but eventually held two due to strong demand. The delegation also hosted “Taiwan Cultural Camps” at four schools and met with local political leaders.
HEALTH
Mangosteens seized
Mangosteens imported from Thailand were stopped at the border for the second consecutive week because they contained excessive amounts of an insecticide, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. The mangosteens imported by Greather Fruit Trading Co contained 0.05mg/kg of the insecticide cypermethrin, well above the maximum permissible limit of 0.01mg/kg, the FDA said, adding that the 1,704kg batch would be destroyed or returned to its country of origin. Mangosteens imported by the same company were also blocked at the border last week because they contained excessive levels of cadmium. The FDA’s weekly report on intercepted imports showed that 15 other goods, including Vietnamese durians, Japanese peaches and pears, and parsley from the Netherlands, were also either destroyed or returned to their country of origin.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
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