■POLITICS
APEC envoy to be revealed
The Presidential Office said yesterday it would announce the name of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) envoy to the 2009 APEC summit once host country Singapore has been informed of the selection. Sources close to the president said former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) will be chosen as Ma’s special envoy to the summit, which is scheduled for Nov. 12 to Nov. 14. In keeping with past practice, the Presidential Office will announce the name only after notifying the host country via a special envoy, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said. In August, Singapore sent a special envoy to Taipei to deliver Ma’s invitation to the summit. The Singaporean envoy is expected to return to Taiwan soon to be told who will represent Taiwan. “This procedure shows respect for the host country,” Wang said.
■EARTHQUAKES
Temblor strikes off Yilan
An earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale struck in the east at 5:05am yesterday, but no immediate damage was reported. The Central Weather Bureau said the epicenter of the earthquake was located 1.8km northeast of Nanao (南澳), Yilan County at a depth of 43.8km. The temblor, with an intensity of 3.0 in Yilan and Hualien counties, was followed by a 4.8 quake at 9:16pm whose effect was felt only in Yilan and Hualien counties, the bureau said.
■ECONOMY
Council, Kansas sign deal
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) yesterday signed a bilateral agreement with the Kansas Department of Commerce to boost trade between both sides. The signing was held at the Taipei Guest House and was witnessed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) and Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson, who will also attend the Taiwan International Green Industry Show. This year marks the 20th year since Kansas and Taiwan became “sister states” in 1989, the MOFA said in a press release. Yang thanked Kansas for the state’s long-standing support for Taiwan’s bid to sign a free-trade agreement with the US and its participation in various UN agencies. Parkinson said the agreement was not geared toward a specific industry but was a comprehensive agreement that he hoped would benefit both sides.
■CULTURE
Museum may change hands
The government is considering a transfer of responsibility over the National Palace Museum from the Executive Yuan to the Presidential Office, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday. Wang said Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) broached the issue at yesterday’s weekly luncheon with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) at the Presidential Office. Wang said Wu said that while some felt the National Palace Museum should be supervised by the Presidential Office, others proposed making it an incorporated administrative agency. Wang said all participants at the meeting agreed that there was room for discussion regarding whether the head of the National Palace Museum should attend the weekly Cabinet meeting. Wang said they welcomed the input of art and culture circles and would not make a decision until a consensus had been reached.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but