Sun, Aug 25, 2024 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  AGRICULTURE

  Taiwan seeks CSF-free tag

  Taiwan has applied for recognition as a classical swine fever (CSF)-free country after ending pig vaccinations against the disease for a year, the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday said. Taiwan applied to the World Organisation for Animal Health on Friday, it said, adding that the nation has been free of CSF for one year as of July 1, following the ending of vaccination against CSF. If Taiwan successfully gains the recognition in May next year, it would be the only country in Asia to be officially declared CSF-free, the ministry said. Taiwan is also the only Asian country free of African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, it said. The status would lower the cost of raising pigs and enhance the nation’s competitiveness in international markets, it added. Taiwan began implementing a phased approach to end administering CSF vaccines last year. All vaccinations ceased on July 1 last year.

  DIPLOMACY

  Taiwan-Japan talks to begin

  The sixth edition of talks on maritime affairs between officials from Taiwan and Japan would be held this week in Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday. The Maritime Affairs Cooperation Dialogue is scheduled to be held in Taipei tomorrow, the ministry said. The talks would touch on a range of issues concerning Taiwan and Japan, in particular cooperation on maritime safety, science, energy development, fisheries and environmental protection, it said. Led by Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Chairman Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), the Taiwanese side is to include officials from the Ocean Affairs Council, the Coast Guard Administration, the National Academy of Marine Research and the Fisheries Agency, among others, it said. The Japanese delegation would be headed by Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi. The dialogue was initiated in the wake of a fisheries dispute in waters near Japan-controlled Okinotori Atoll in 2016. In April of that year, Japanese authorities detained a Taiwanese fishing vessel near the atoll, which they consider to be an island and therefore entitled to a 200 nautical mile (370.4km) exclusive economic zone. This action was protested by Taiwan. They held their first meeting six months later, with each side agreeing to take turns hosting future gatherings.

  TOURISM

  Forest railway to resume

  The Alishan Forest Railway is to resume mainline services on Saturday, following disruption caused by Typhoon Gaemi last month, the Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office said on Friday. The office suspended mainline and branch-line services on July 23 as a precautionary measure due to the approaching Typhoon Gaemi, which made landfall in northeastern Taiwan at about midnight the following day. Services on the branch lines on Alishan in Chiayi County were brought back on July 29. However, services on the mainline were disrupted by fallen trees, bamboo and rocks at 116 locations, the office said. The railway itself sustained no significant damage, it added. Work to restore the services is expected to be completed on Wednesday, followed by two days of test runs, before the services resume on Saturday, it said. Launched in 1912 for the logging business, the Alishan Forest Railway was only fully reopened on July 6, after 15 years of work repairing damage sustained during Typhoon Morakot in 2009 and the 2015 typhoon season. Booking for the resumed mainline services would be opened online through the office’s Web site at 6am tomorrow.
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