■ LANGUAGE
Dispute rages over ‘Chinese’
The Presidential Office yesterday said it was not against calling Chinese “Huayu (華語)” or “Huawen (華文),” but said that the Executive Yuan must explain the government’s position to the public. Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said “Guoyu (國語)” refers to the national and official language of a country, a principle that should be reflected in school textbooks. Chinese courses for elementary and junior high schools next year will still be called “Guoyuwen (國語文)” but be changed to “Huayuwen (華語文)” in guidelines for teachers and textbook writers and editors. Huang Kuang-kuo (黃光國), a national policy advisor, threatened to resign should the Ministry of Education decide to change “Guowen” to “Huawen.”
■ HEALTH
Kids stay home, get myopia
Nearly 90 percent of the school children visiting ophthalmology clinics recently have been diagnosed with worsening myopia because of excessive eye strain suffered during the summer break, an eye doctor said, adding that television and computer games could be to blame. Most students prefer indoor activities during the summer vacation, which tends to cause worsening of any existing eye problems, said Liao Chang-bin (廖昶斌), director of the Shu-tien Urology and Ophthalmology Clinic.
■ TRADE
Taipei, Manila talk pact
The Philippines is likely to sign a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan within a year on the basis of the recent trade pact between Taiwan and China, Philippine Deputy Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal said yesterday. Although the Philippines is a member of the ASEAN plus one grouping, which includes China, and has an economic agreement with Japan, it will benefit from an FTA with Taiwan, Cristobal said. “We hope to start formal FTA negotiations with Taiwan within a year,” Cristobal said. However, the Philippine government will have to consult with the country’s parliamentarians, academics and business leaders on the issue and close internal divisions before it could hold discussions with potential FTA partners, he said. In late June, then-Secretary of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry Jesli Lapus said that because the Philippines adheres to the “one China” policy, the issue of an FTA with Taiwan was quite sensitive.
■ RETAILING
Post office moves online
Chunghwa Post said yesterday it was considering branching out into online shopping. The company said in a presentation at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications that the move was part of a strategy to increase revenue as its mail delivery service shrinks because of the increased use of electronic mail and documents. Trumpeting the advantage of having 1,320 outlets nationwide and a comprehensive logistics network, the company said it was ready to compete with the main players in the market, including Yahoo-Kimo, PC-Home and PayEasy. To distinguish itself from competitors, Chunghwa Post said it would focus on the sale of health-related products, produce and special snacks in different localities. Based on preliminary plans, sellers would pay between 4 percent and 5 percent of the closing price as well as a NT$10,000 guarantee. The company said it would waive the annual NT$12,000 fee to use Chunghwa’s online shopping network for the first year, for those vendors that use the postal company’s boxes to package their products.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
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