As the row over the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) continues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday announced an extended deadline for its essay competition that asks members of the public to express their views on solutions to the Diaoyutai dispute.
The competition, introduced on Aug. 14, initially had yesterday set as its deadline.
On its Web site on Friday, the ministry posted the announcement as “important news” and said that the deadline of the competition had been extended for another month to Oct. 15.
When the ministry first announced the call for entries last month, it drew critical comments from legislators who blasted the competition as being “too ‘a-Q’” (阿Q), a Taiwanese slang expression describing how one avoids reality by inventing excuses to believe one has scored a victory.
Others questioned the sensibility of protecting the nation’s sovereignty through an essay competition, with one observer saying: “Does it [the ministry] think the sovereignty issue can be solved through writing essays?”
In a recent press conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) reiterated that the Diaoyutais are an inherent part of the Republic of China’s territory and protested against the decision by the Japanese government to pay ￥2.05 billion Japanese (US$26 million) for three of the chain’s islands in its effort to nationalize the archipelago. Yang then took the opportunity to also defend the ministry’s essay competition.
Yang said that the essay competition was necessary and important because its goal is to give young Taiwanese a chance to better understand the issue. The elder generation has already made many efforts with regard to the case concerning the Diaotutais, the youngsters should continue to make a stand for it, he said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS