■ Military Affairs
EU resolution lauded
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed the European Parliament's fourth resolution in just over a year opposing the lifting of an EU arms embargo against China. The European Parliament -- the legislative arm of the EU -- passed the resolution in Strasburg, France, last week, said Wang Yu-yuan (王豫元), director of the ministry's Department of European Affairs. It was the fourth resolution on the matter since Dec. 18, 2003. The latest resolution stipulates that the EU should maintain its ban on arms sales to China until there is a satisfactory improvement in the country's human-rights record. Nevertheless, Wang said that the possibility of the EU lifting its arms embargo against China is increasing given recent developments.
■ Earthquakes
Moderate temblor hits
A moderate earthquake hit central Taiwan yesterday, but no injuries or serious damage were immediately reported, the Central Weather Bureau said. The 5.4-magnitude quake's epicenter was about 31km northeast of Tsaoshan, in a mountainous part of Chiayi County, the weather bureau said. The area is about 200km southwest of Taipei. The tremor was felt across most of central Taiwan, the weather bureau said.
■ Diplomacy
Chen hosts Chadian leader
Chadian President Idriss Deby will arrive in Taipei on Sunday for a three-day state visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. During his visit, Deby will discuss bilateral cooperative projects, African regional issues and the international situation with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the ministry said. The two leaders will sign a joint communique at the conclusion of Deby's visit, the statement said. Deby will travel to Kaohsiung to visit a marine base and Chinese Petroleum Corp's refinery. He will also visit major cultural and economic institutions in the north of the country and meet with local business and industry leaders. Ministry officials said relations with Chad have been cordial since the two countries resumed full diplomatic ties in 1997. Deby has on many occasions spoken out in support of Taiwan's bid to join the UN, the World Health Organization and other major international organizations, the officials said. Deby's trip will be his third to Taiwan.
■ Education
Plan divides universities
A proposal championed by the Ministry of Education's higher education department for universities to be classified into a number
of categories was the subject of heated debate yesterday during a national conference of university heads. Participants in the panel discussion, which was presided over by Mou Tsung-tsan (牟宗燦), chairman of
the Association of Private Universities and Colleges, were divided on the proposal, in which universities would be
divided into four categories -- teaching universities, research universities, professional universities and community universities. Due to a jump in the number of institutions, universities have shifted from providing an elite education to a universal education, which has resulted in financial pressure, lower quality graduates and low competitiveness, an departmental official said. To iron out these problems, the department proposed that universities be classified into the categories and that the government offer them funds based upon specific needs, the official said.
■ Foreign Affairs
Beijing pitches fit on stop
China reacted angrily yesterday to a planned stopover by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the US territory of Guam, urging nations to be wary of Taiwanese attempts to use them in pushing for independence. "China has made it clear to the international community that the Taiwan authorities are taking advantage of all kinds of opportunities to push for independence," foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan (孔泉) told a regular briefing. "We want to make sure that other countries, particularly countries with diplomatic relations with China, will not let Taiwan authorities take such advantage," he said. Chen will visit the Pacific nations of Palau and the Solomon Islands later this month with a transit stop in Guam.
■ Disaster Relief
Charity walk launched
Several educational institutes and groups under the Buddhist Foguangshan Monastery launched a one-day nationwide fund-raiser yesterday for South Asian children orphaned in the tsunami disaster late last month. A total of 20 Fo Guang teams embarked on the fund-raising walk from 17 locations around the island at 9am yesterday, with the aim of raising at least US$50,000 by nightfall. The Foguangshan Monastery will use the money to establish a foundation for the building of orphanages in areas affected by the tsunami tragedy. In Chiayi City, a group of students and faculty members from Nanhua University, headed by university president Chen Miao-sheng (陳淼勝), embarked on the fund-raising walk from a temple located in the downtown area. They plan to walk at least 8 km around the city during the day.
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
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