■POSTAL SERVICE
Post Office to lick corruption
Postal company Chunghwa Post will issue a set of stamps on Wednesday to mark International Anti-Corruption Day, the company said yesterday. The set will comprise two stamps, one with a denomination of NT$5 and one of NT$25, the company said. Differing only in color and denomination, the two stamps will feature the same design: a globe with latitude and longitude lines that form the Chinese character “lian,” meaning “clean and honest.” “The image conveys the idea that Taiwan is taking the lead in promoting clean and competent government and its determination in implementing anti-corruption efforts,” the statement reads. First day covers will be sold from Monday.
■HEALTH
More suffer sleepless nights
The number of people in Taiwan suffering from chronic insomnia has nearly doubled in three years, as economic worries caused by the global downturn have brought more sleepless nights, a study showed yesterday. Nearly 5 million, or 21.8 percent of the population, have chronic insomnia, compared with 11.5 percent three years ago, the study from the Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine said. The study also found that people with sleeping problems had a higher risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, the society said in a statement. The hike in sleeplessness was largely caused by unemployment as the nation plunged into recession late last year, it said. Chronic insomnia is defined as three sleepless nights in a week with the symptoms lasting for more than a month. More than 60 percent of the 4,000 people interviewed for the study also complained about waking up at night or having difficulties falling asleep within 30 minutes.
■ENTERTAINMENT
Hakka TV scoops awards
Taiwan’s Hakka Television Station won the Best Drama Series and Best Single Drama categories at the 14th Asia Television Awards (ATA) ceremony in Singapore on Thursday. Entering the competition for the first time to compete against programs from networks such as Discovery and National Geographic Channel Asia, Hakka TV earned nominations in four categories. The Best Drama Series award was given to Hakka TV’s 1895 in Formosa, which depicts a love story set during a Hakka revolt against the Japanese. The Best Single Drama award went to Hakka TV’s Love in the Season of Osmanthus, a comedy in which three middle-aged men try to rob a security van. Hakka TV director Hsu Chin-yun (徐青雲) said the station spends considerable effort on the cast, plot and production of dramas, which serve to promote Hakka culture.
■TOURISM
Visitor No. 4 million expected
The four-millionth tourist to Taiwan this year is expected to arrive today, which would be the first time this mark has been reached, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday. The lucky visitor will receive a debit card with a cash value of NT$400,000 (US$12,400) for exclusive use in Taiwan during their visit, bureau officials said. He or she will also receive many other gifts. The Tourism Bureau launched an incentive offer this year as part of a program to increase the number of visitors. The 1 millionth, 2 millionth and 3 millionth visitors also received debit cards earlier this year, but with a lower value. The bureau, in conjunction with the Northeast Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area Administration and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, is also staging two photo exhibitions at the airport until Feb. 28.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by