■ Legislature
Arms bill rejected again
The Procedure Committee yesterday rejected the long-stalled arms procurement plan, for the 30th time, as well as the confirmation of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) nominees for the Control Yuan. The pan-blue dominated committee voted down the two bills yet again. However, it did place the proposed amendments to the Statute Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), amendments to the Organic Law of the Judicial Yuan (司法院組織法) and the special flood-control bill proposed by the People First Party (PFP) caucus on the legislative agenda. The committee also elected three conveners to take turns chairing the weekly meeting. They are Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip William Lai (賴清德), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) and PFP caucus whip Lin Hui-kuan (林惠官).
■ Diplomacy
Lee's speech confirmed
The National Press Club in Washington confirmed on Monday that former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) will give a speech at the club on Oct. 20. A club official said Lee will also take questions from the audience after his speech. In addition, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), which is in charge of Lee's itinerary while in Washington, has also arranged for him to give a brief speech at a luncheon on Capitol Hill. David Lee (李大維), the nation's representative to the US, said Monday that he will act according to the protocol for greeting former heads of state set up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs two years ago. Lee will also probably meet with Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski in Anchorage before he flies to New York, Washington and Los Angeles. Lee visited the US in 1995 and spoke at his alma mater, Cornell University, triggering vehement protests from Beijing. After retiring in 2000, he again visited Cornell in June 2001.
■ Weather
Typhoon may head this way
Typhoon Longwang, the 19th typhoon this year, has increased its intensity to that of a medium typhoon and it will be clear in about three days whether it will affect the country, the Central Weather Bureau reported yesterday. It is uncertain yet whether Longwang, still 2,100km away, will affect the nation because the high pressure over the Pacific Ocean is not stable. The situation will be clearer by Friday. If Longwang moves toward Taiwan, a warning could be issued on Sunday, the bureau said.
■ Education
Foreign students in Taichung
More than 200 students from 36 countries have been studying Chinese language and culture at Providence University in Shalu (沙鹿) Township, Taichung County, since the beginning of the month, university officials said. The school has the number of foreign students of any university or college in the central Taiwan, according to the university, whose Chinese Language Education Center (CLEC) began enrolling students in 1996. One of the CLEC students, Alexander Oxmar Ramireg Bazan from Paraguay, said he is grateful to his government giving him chance to study at the university. Cyntia Bahiana Esinolamonges, also from Paraguay, said she had been warmly greeted at the airport by a CLEC teacher and students from the Spanish language and culture department. The kindness of Taiwanese people was her first impression of the country, she said.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
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