■ Government
Hsieh confirms new officials
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday officially introduced incoming Environmental Protection Administration Minister Chang Kow-lung (張國龍) and Council of Hakka Affairs Chairman Lee Yung-te (李永得) to the public. In addition to these Cabinet members, the premier also confirmed that former Taichung City mayor Chang Wen-ying (張溫鷹), an independent, will be appointed vice interior minister, and that former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) will be appointed vice minister of the Council of Hakka Affairs.
■ Diplomacy
Allies ask for financial help
The leaders of Tuvalu and Kiribati have asked Taiwan to help pay for the repatriation of workers stranded on Nauru, according to a report by ABC Radio Australia yesterday. The report said hundreds of workers in the phosphate industry from Tuvalu and Kiribati are stuck on Nauru, with some having not been paid for more than a year. The report continued to say Tuvalu's prime minister, Maatia Toafa, had said he has asked the president of Taiwan for US$3.5 million to cover the workers' unpaid wages and other expenses so they can return home.
■ Politics
Lien's wife off to Shanghai
Lien Fang Yu (連方瑀), the wife of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), left Taipei for Shanghai via Hong Kong yesterday to attend the christening ceremony for a vessel. Accompanied by her two daughters, Lien Fang Yu kept a low profile at CKS International Airport. Her two sons joined them in Hong Kong. She has been invited to preside over the christening ceremony for the China Peace, which was commissioned by the Taipei-based Chinese Maritime Transport firm and built at a Shanghai shipyard.
■ Diplomacy
Dalai Lama aide in town
The younger brother of the Dalai Lama is making a low-profile visit to Taiwan, a cable television channel reported yesterday. Tendzin Choegyal, who at age four was recognized as the 15th Ngari Rinpoche, a title passed through reincarnation, is one of the top aides to Tibet's spiritual leader at the Tibetan Buddhism headquarters-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. The Ngari Rinpoche, who was elected to the Tibetan parliament-in-exile where he served until 1995, is in Taipei to attend a ceremony tomorrow at the the Central Police University for a bodyguard detail to the Dalai Lama. The Ngari Rinpoche has kept his visit low-profile and would not meet any officials during his stay, according to the TV report.
■ Diplomacy
Group lobbies for inclusion
A Taiwanese delegation lobbied yesterday for the nation to be included on the agenda at the inaugural East Asia Summit in December despite fears that China may try to block the move. The three-man delegation, headed by Fu-chen Lo (羅福全), chairman of the non-government Association of East Asian Relations in Taiwan, said during a stop in Manila that leaving Taiwan out of a proposed regional trade bloc would create a "missing link." The bloc would comprise the 10-member Association of Southeast Nations plus Japan, China, South Korea and India -- and possibly Australia and New Zealand. Lo said Taipei wants to create awareness among the region's major players that "Taiwan should be considered a very constructive partner."
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
A woman who allegedly spiked the food and drinks of an Australian man with rat poison, leaving him in intensive care, has been charged with attempted murder, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. The woman, identified by her surname Yang (楊), is accused of repeatedly poisoning Alex Shorey over the course of several months last year to prevent the Australian man from leaving Taiwan, prosecutors said in a statement. Shorey was evacuated back to Australia on May 3 last year after being admitted to intensive care in Taiwan. According to prosecutors, Yang put bromadiolone, a rodenticide that prevents blood from
A Japanese space rocket carrying a Taiwanese satellite blasted off yesterday, but was later seen spiraling downward in the distance as the company said the launch attempt had failed. It was the second attempt by the Japanese start-up Space One to become the country’s first private firm to put a satellite into orbit, after its first try in March ended in a mid-air explosion. This time, its solid-fuel Kairos rocket had been carrying five satellites, including one from the Taiwan Space Agency and others designed by Japanese students and corporate ventures. Spectators gathered near the company’s coastal Spaceport Kii launch pad in Japan’s
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