■ EMTERTAINMENT
Film wins at India festival
A politically charged Taiwanese film set in the 1950s won the top prize at India's international film festival on Monday, stealing the limelight from a Pakistani film about Muslims in a post-Sept. 11, 2001, world. The Wall, directed by Lin Chih-ju (林志儒), beat 13 films to win the Golden Peacock award for best film at the closing ceremony of the 38th International Film Festival of India in Goa. The story of a Japanese socialist hiding from Taiwanese authorities appealed to the jury for its depiction of ordinary people coping in politically challenging times. "As an audience, we were able to relate to something as abstract as politics through the real emotions of human beings," said jury member Robert Sarkies, a filmmaker from New Zealand. "Other films that touch upon political issues get lost in complexity." The film festival had screened 176 films from 46 countries by the time it wrapped up on Monday.
■ EDUCATION
Students top science test
Taiwanese students ranked first in science and fourth in mathematics in an international assessment program sponsored by the OECD, the Ministry of Education said yesterday while lauding the success of domestic educational reforms. A total of 8,815 15-year olds from 240 schools across the country participated in the Program for International Student Assessment, which was administered last year and involved about 400,000 students in 57 countries. Taiwan took 16th place in reading. The National Teachers' Association, however, said the rankings were meaningless because they did not reflect the ability of students but only that the local curriculum resembled those in the West. The association also said that the results could not be used as a benchmark to measure the progress of educational reform because it was the first time Taiwan participated in the test.
■ DIPLOMACY
China upset over US transit
China yesterday expressed "grave concern" over a US aircraft carrier's transit through the Taiwan Strait after Beijing denied it permission to make a port call in Hong Kong. "China has expressed grave concern to the US and requested that it take prudent moves in this highly sensitive area," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) told reporters. The US expressed anger after China abruptly canceled a long-planned Hong Kong port call on Nov. 21 to Nov. 24 by the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk and its battle group, sparking one of the sharpest diplomatic rows in years. The ship subsequently made for Japan, passing through the Taiwan Strait in what is believed to be the first such transit by a US aircraft carrier since 2002. US officials have said the route was chosen to avoid a storm further out to sea. But some analysts have said the carrier's passage through the strait was intended as a signal of US displeasure with China over the port call denial, as well as Beijing's ongoing military build-up aimed at Taiwan.
■ DIPLOMACY
Gambian president arrives
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a five-day visit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said. This is Jammeh's seventh visit to Taiwan as head of state, the officials said. During his visit, Jammeh will meet President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and visit Asustek Computer Inc, Motech Industries Inc, Sun Ten Pharmaceutical Co and the Fisheries Research Institute, they said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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