■ENVIRONMENT
Fish pass dioxin tests
Following reports last week of dioxin contamination at a duck farm in Kaohsiung County, officials from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) confirmed yesterday that stocks of tilapia found at the farm were within safety limits. The EPA had come under criticism in the legislature earlier for failing to discover that the farm in question was breeding fish in addition to the ducks — which had been found to contain large amounts of harmful chemicals. Officials said analyses showed that the fish had dioxin levels between 0.260 and 0.412 picograms per gram (fresh weight), far below the limit of 4pg/g. However, Kaohsiung County authorities said that thousands of kilograms of tilapia would still be destroyed today as a precaution.
■CULTURE
Kaohsiung to set up zone
A special zone will be established to help preserve Pingpu culture after a park was destroyed by Typhoon Morakot in early August, Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) said yesterday. Yang was referring to the Pingpu cultural park in Siaolin Village (小林), Jiasian Township (甲仙), which was buried under mudslides triggered by the typhoon. The Red Cross Society of the Republic of China has commissioned a consultancy company to plan the new culture park and permanent housing units for the typhoon victims. Yang also said he had asked tax authorities to study the possibility of waiving land and house taxes for the permanent housing units, which are also being built by the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation.
■TOURISM
Janice Lai heads to China
Tourism Bureau Director-General Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) departed for China yesterday at the head of a large delegation to attend an international travel fair. It marks the first time that Lai has led a tourism promotion delegation to attend a travel fair in China in her capacity as president of the Taipei-based Taiwan Strait Tourism and Travel Association. Lai said prior to her departure that the delegation would introduce Taiwan’s natural scenery and other tourist attractions to prospective Chinese and other foreign travelers. The 190-person delegation, composed of representatives of 23 government agencies and business associations, as well as 64 travel agencies and hotel groups, will operate 60 booths in a Taiwan pavilion at the China International Travel Mart to be held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, from today through Sunday.
■EDUCATION
MOE officials visit UK
Ministry of Education (MOE) officials are leading a group of school representatives on a visit to the UK as part of the preparations for an education white paper that is scheduled for release early next year, a ministry official said yesterday. The group, which consists of representatives from graduate schools; senior, middle and vocational high schools; and elementary schools, is being led by Liu Ching-jen (劉慶仁), director-general of the Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations. It will visit schools in London and Edinburgh, as well as attend an international education conference for British primary and secondary schools. Liu said the representatives would hold workshops and demonstrate their UK findings upon their return. The white paper for international education in elementary and secondary schools will be published next year to help lay a solid policy foundation, he said.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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