■ POLITICS
DPP to expel two members
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Central Standing Committee yesterday passed a proposal by DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to expel two party members — former DPP legislator Hsu Jung-shu (?Q) and former Council of Agriculture minister Fan Chen-tsung (范振宗) — for attending a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forum. “The Central Standing Committee members believe Hsu and Fan seriously violated party regulations and all members agreed to expel the two,” DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said. Cheng said the proposal would be sent to the party’s Central Review Committee for a final decision next Wednesday, when Fan and Hsu would be invited to defend themselves.
■ CULTURE
World chefs battle for title
Chefs from six regions around the world are scheduled to compete at the World Culinary Contest in Taipei next month. Eight teams will compete from Aug. 20 to Aug. 23 — two from Taiwan and one each from the US, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. One of Taiwan’s teams will represent northern Taiwan and the other southern Taiwan. Chang Hua-jiou (張華九), spokesperson of the contest’s organizing committee, said two teams would compete in the finals, during which the judges would prepare a case of ingredients that the teams must use in their dishes. The teams will not be told in advance what they are, Chang said. The ingredients will include flavors from both local and Western cuisine. The winning team will receive a NT$300,000 prize. Singapore won in 2007 and last year.
■ DEFENSE
Conscript numbers to drop
The Ministry of National Defense will decrease the annual number of conscripts between 2011 and 2014 as part of its plan to switch to a professional military with a starting salary of NT$30,000 for privates, ministry officials said on Tuesday. Department of Manpower Director Wang Chun-chiang (王春江) said that the minimum monthly salary would be guaranteed. In response to concerns about the funding that would be needed, the ministry said it would strike a balance between national defense and the nation’s finances to achieve optimum efficiency. The military has 275,000 service members. Under the troop reduction plan, this number will drop to 215,000. The goal of making the switch to a volunteer system is to establish an elite and high-quality military force, enhance combat prowess and boost military operational efficiency, Strategic Planning Department Director Lee Hsi-ming (李喜明) said.
■ WEATHER
Tropical storm may form
A low-pressure system located near southern Taiwan may develop into a tropical storm, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The low-pressure system is about 1,300km to the southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and is moving northwest at a speed of 20kph. The bureau expected the system to develop into a tropical storm within the next two days because it has a very solid structure. The system is approaching the Bashi Channel and the southeast of Taiwan. The bureau forecast that the system could start affecting the weather nationwide on Friday. The southeast region and Hengchun Peninsula are expected to see the effects of the low-pressure system first.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is