■ FOOD
Meat found in vegetarian food
The Investigation Bureau recently found that some processed foods advertised as vegetarian contained meat and said it would refer producers who knowingly added meat to their products for prosecution on fraud charges. Pu Chang-en (蒲長恩), a technician at the bureau’s Department of Forensic Science, said yesterday that among samples collected from 31 vegetarian food vendors in Taipei City and County for safety checks, food taken from 17 vendors contained meat. An investigation targeting the producers of the processed food was launched to determine whether meat was deliberately added to the soybean-based products to enrich their texture and flavor. Fu said it was possible that vegetarian food showing small traces of meat was contaminated by poorly cleaned work tables or cooking equipment in factories where meat products are also processed. Producers who have not deliberately defrauded consumers would not be subject to prosecution, Fu said.
■ NATURE
Liao roots for Yushan
Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) told a rally organized by the National Park Association of Taiwan in Taipei yesterday that everyone — regardless of their nationality — should vote for Yushan (玉山) to help it become one of the new seven wonders of nature. At 3,952m, Yushan is the highest mountain in Taiwan. After a nomination process in which 500,000 people from 224 countries voted, Yushan became one of the 77 candidate sites competing to become one of the 21 finalists. For the past 14 weeks, Yushan has been No. 1 in the mountains category. Voting will end on July 7, whereupon a panel of judges will choose the new seven wonders of nature among the 21 finalists.
■ SOCIETY
Taipei seeks makeovers
In its bid to make itself more attractive, Taipei City will offer more generous incentives to building owners — especially high-rise buildings — who want to give the structures a facelift. Hoping to improve the city’s appearance ahead of the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo, the city government recently increased the subsidy it provides for renovating an old building’s exterior to 75 percent of the total cost, from 33 percent. The Taipei International Flora Expo, which will be held from Nov. 6 next year, through April 24, 2011, at four venues in Taipei is aimed at showcasing Taiwan’s technical strength in the horticulture industry, its ability to organize major events and its capacity to generate economic activity. Some 6 million people from Taiwan and abroad are expected to attend. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday the city had subsidized 33 percent of the cost of renovating olds building since 2006. To date, 30 projects benefiting from the incentive program have been completed, he said.
■ SOCIETY
Teens hooked in TV, Web
The nation’s teenagers remain addicted to TV and the Internet on weekends, a survey showed yesterday. The poll conducted by the King Car Education Foundation on 2,418 teenagers in April showed that 96.33 percent of respondents usually watched TV on the weekend, with 36.54 percent spending between two and four hours in front of the tube. More than 95 percent of children said they surfed the Internet on the weekend, with the majority spending a maximum of two hours online. Almost 15 percent said they stayed online for a minimum of six hours during the weekend, the survey found.
‘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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
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