SOCIETY
Total population falls
Taiwan’s population dropped for the 33rd consecutive time last month to 23,213,251, a decline of 11,470 from the previous month, Ministry of the Interior data showed. There were 7,704 births last month, an increase of 212 from August, bringing the total number of births in the first nine months to 69,446. There were also 16,712 deaths last month, an increase compared with August and the same period last year. Meanwhile, 70,672 people moved to Taiwan last month, down 8,408 from the same month last year, but up 4,273 from August, the data showed. However, 73,134 people left Taiwan, resulting in a net outflow of 2,462 people. Accounting for births, deaths and migration, the total population fell by 11,470 compared with August.
Photo: CNA
ENVIRONMENT
Night markets give vouchers
An eco-friendly campaign offering vouchers at 40 night markets across Taiwan is to be held over the next four Saturdays, the Administration of Commerce said yesterday. Visitors who bring reusable bags, utensils or cups can exchange NT$100 for NT$200 worth of vouchers to be used through Nov. 8, it said. Staff at night markets would verify the eco-friendly items and distribute the vouchers, it said. Those who spend NT$500 or more at the same night market can also present an invoice, receipt or proof of purchase at the campaign service desk to receive a Taiwanese-style mesh reusable shopping bag, it added. Each night market would have a limited supply of 60 shopping bags and each participant would only be able to claim one per day.
LITERATURE
Writers’ festival to open
The Taiwan Writers Festival is to bring together authors and translators from the US, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Finland and Poland to meet and hold discussions with their Taiwanese counterparts next month, organizers said yesterday. From Nov. 6 to 22, participants would join sessions exploring how literature looks back on the past while tackling present-day questions about technology, the environment and social change, curator Yen Hung-ya (閻鴻亞) said. Among the international guests is US author Barbara Demick, said the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, which is organizing the festival. Demick will join a panel with China-born journalist Annie Zhang (張潔平) and Taiwanese journalist Jason Liu (劉致昕) to explore how writers navigate power, crises and truth in their work, the museum said.
PUBLISHING
Magazine marks 50 years
The government-funded Taiwan Panorama magazine is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an exhibition of some of its best photographs of Taiwan’s social, economic and political development over the past half-century. The free exhibition is to be held at Taipei’s Huashan 1914 Creative Park from today through Oct. 19. It would feature four sections exploring everyday life, public infrastructure and resilience, democracy and freedom, and Taiwan’s presence on the world stage. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said that since its inauguration in 1976, Taiwan Panorama has documented Taiwan’s stories through different eras. As the magazine is set to end its print edition and transition to a digital format at the end of this year, Wu said its vast collection of stories and images would continue to live on through digital platforms, online exhibitions and more diverse content.
The donation of offshore patrol vessel Kinmen to the Philippines includes provisions that protect Taiwanese fishers and facilitate security cooperation across the First Island Chain, officials said yesterday. The comment was made during the Cabinet’s comprehensive administrative report at the legislature after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) expressed concerns about the decision to give a ship to a country whose coast guard had in 2013 fired on a Taiwanese trawler and killed its captain without provocation. The Cabinet should lay out the safeguards that have been established to prevent the Philippine government from using the Kinmen to harass, expel
‘FRIENDSHIP FLEET’: A CGA official is scheduled to meet with the president of the Pacific nation, while one of the ships is to host a banquet and National Day event Two Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol vessels have docked at Malakal Harbor in Palau as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr, the agency said yesterday. The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu, set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived on Tuesday at Malakal Harbor, the CGA’s Fleet Branch said in a statement. The journey marks the second time the CGA has dispatched a “friendship fleet” to another country, after it sent its first-ever goodwill fleet, comprising the Hualien and
A patrol vessel donated by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to the Philippines was commissioned into the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday, a Philippine non-governmental organization said. The CGA on Sept. 16 confirmed media reports that Taiwan had donated a retired 500-tonne patrol vessel to the Philippines. The Manila-based We Protect Our Seas (WPS) foundation, which served as an intermediary in the transfer, said that the vessel was formerly the CGA’s 500-tonne petrol vessel Kinmen (CG123). The WPS, in a statement issued on Friday, said the vessel, renamed as the BRP Sarangani, had been commissioned into the PCG the
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) today said that two of its patrol vessels have docked at Palau's Malakal Harbor as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with the Palauan president. The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi (嘉義) and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu (澎湖), set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived at Malakal Harbor yesterday, the CGA's Fleet Branch said in a statement. The journey marked the second time the CGA has dispatched a "Friendship Fleet" to another country, after it sent its first-ever goodwill fleet, comprising the Hualien (花蓮)
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