SOCIETY
TAS holding flea market to help poor
The Taipei American School’s (TAS) Orphanage Club will hold a Flea Market and Book Sale on Saturday to raise funds for needy children and orphans at home and abroad. The flea market, featuring a wide range of new and used items, will be held from 10am to 3pm, while the book sale will end at 5pm, the club said. Thousands of books will be on offer, from novels, mysteries, biographies and travel books to cookbooks, children’s fiction and English-teaching books. Both activities will be held at the TAS campus in Tianmu, rain or shine, it said. For more information, contact Richard Arnold at (02) 2873-9900 extension 239 or Mrs Koh at (02) 2874-0902.
SOCIETY
Animals Taiwan to host bazaar
Animals Taiwan will hold its first annual Summer Charity Bazaar next Saturday at Yuma Grill from 11am to 3pm, the group said. All proceeds will go to help stray and injured animals, it said. A wide array of items, ranging from antiques to jewelry, homemade bags, kids’ products and food, will be sold at the bazaar, it said. Admission is NT$600, which includes a buffet lunch and a NT$100 shopping voucher. Tickets to a raffle for various prizes — from hotel accommodations to digital cameras — are on sale. For information, contact Michelle at 0955-360-693 or Liza at 0932-344-687, or e-mail liza@animalstaiwan.org.
SOCIETY
More foreigners naturalized: ministry
A total of 13,232 foreigners were naturalized as Republic of China (ROC) citizens last year, an increase of 2,468 over the 2007 figure, the Ministry of the Interior said on Saturday. Last year, 98.1 percent of the naturalized citizens were foreign women married to local men. Close to 81 percent of them were from Vietnam, followed by 9.4 percent from Indonesia and 4.7 percent from Cambodia, ministry statistics showed. Meanwhile, about 780 Taiwanese citizens lost their ROC citizenship last year, up by 64 compared with the 2007 number. The figures showed that 73.5 percent of them made the decision on their own, with 41.9 percent renouncing their citizenship to apply for Japanese citizenship, 20.6 percent seeking Singapore citizenship and 17.8 percent applying for South Korean citizenship.
DIPLOMACY
EETO marks Europe Day
The European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) held a reception on Friday to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of Europe Day. Celebrated on May 9, Europe Day marks the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, in which former French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposed a new form of political arrangement for Europe. Six countries decided in the 1957 Treaty of Rome to build a European Economic Community, which has evolved into the EU. EETO head Guy Ledoux told the members of the diplomatic corps in Taiwan on Friday that “creativity and innovation” were the theme of this year’s celebration, and the theme had also been applied to the relations between the EU and Taiwan in promoting science, technology and cultural exchanges. “A major innovation in 2009 will also be the opening of the EU Center,” Ledoux said. “This is why we are providing a 1.1 million euro [US$1.5 million] grant to a consortium of universities led by National Taiwan University with the task of increasing alliances between the EU and the Taiwanese public,” Ledoux said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
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