Juan Vasquez, secretary of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) said that in accordance with UN policy, the transport of the two pandas to Taiwan would be a matter of “internal or domestic trade” and as such does not need to be reported to CITES.
Vasquez said on Monday that there is no requirement that each individual instance of international trade in endangered species be immediately reported to the organization, and that it is sufficient to issue a summary report by the end of the year. He said there was no requirement at all to report domestic trade since CITES only regulates international trade.
Vasquez also said that according to his knowledge, neither Taiwan nor China had submitted any documents regarding the pandas to CITES, but that he couldn’t be certain. The main point, Vasquez said, was that it was not necessary to do so.
CITES lists pandas as an endangered species and prohibits their commercial import and export. Authorities in both the exporting and the importing country must approve the export and import activities.
Although within the UN framework Taiwan is treated as a province of China and is not a signatory to CITES, it is following CITES regulations to a certain extent as Taiwanese and Chinese authorities have approved the documents, which reportedly list the Taipei Zoo and Wolong Nature Reserve Management Office.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
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