■ POPULATION
Aborigines thriving
The number of Aborigines in the country totaled 494,107 as of the end of last year, up 2.05 percent from the previous year, the latest statistics by the Ministry of the Interior showed. Ministry officials said the increase was about six times that of the 0.34 percent growth rate for the overall population. Taiwan’s Aborigines were also younger on average than other groups, averaging 31.93 years of age as of the end of last year, 5.23 years lower than the 37.16 years the country’s population averaged as a whole. The number of Aborigines over 65 accounted for 6.1 percent of the total indigenous population, lower than the 10.4 percent of senior citizens in the overall population. Of the 14 tribes in Taiwan, the Amis were the most populous, with 177,909 people, followed by the Paiwan and Atayal tribes. The three tribes accounted for nearly 70 percent of the total Aborigine population.
■ TOURISM
Fahrenheit to play at NTU
Approximately 4,000 fans of the popular boy band Fahrenheit (飛輪海) from Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia are scheduled to meet their idols at the National Taiwan University auditorium today. The group was chosen last year as the nation’s representatives to promote tourism in Japan and South Korea. The bureau said half of the participants were mobilized through the group’s international fan association, while the other half won tickets through an online draw organized by the bureau. Fans from overseas will receive tickets and glowing sticks to attend the concerts as well as EasyCards featuring a band portrait of Fahrenheit. The majority of fans are young women, the bureau said, adding that the concert would help generate NT$100 million (US$ 2.9 million) in revenue from overseas.
■ PANDAS
Yuan-yuan scared by crowd
The Taipei City Zoo released the giant pandas Tuan-tuan (團團) and Yuan-yuan (圓圓) to the outdoor display area for the first time yesterday, with loud voices from eager visitors leaving Yuan-yuan frightened. The zoo said the pandas had become used to the quiet indoor display area since their arrival in December and that the cheers from visitors made them nervous. Yuan-yuan fled to a corner shortly after stepping into the outdoor area. She was later sent back to the indoor area. Tuan-tuan, on the other hand, did not appear to have been affected by the noise and played around in the outdoor area. Taipei Zoo spokesman Jason Chin (金仕謙) said the zoo would open the outdoor area for the pandas when the temperature reached 20˚C and it wasn’t raining. With Yuan-yuan showing signs of having entered the estrous cycle, the zoo will separate the two pandas and prepare them for mating when Tuan-tuan is ready, Chin said.
■ ARTS
Domingo accepts invitation
World-renowned tenor Placido Domingo has accepted an invitation to perform in Miaoli next month, the county government said on Friday. The county government sent the invitation for its international music festival, scheduled for March 19 to March 21, after the successful performance by Jose Carreras late last year, county officials said. The officials said that to cater to all age groups, they would also invite Brian Mcknight, winner of the best male R&B Soul Artist in the American Music Awards, as well as Maksim, a popular pianist from Croatia. Ticket prices for the three performances have yet to be announced.
‘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
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
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
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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