NATIONAL DEFENSE
US Navy plane in flyby
A US Navy signals reconnaissance aircraft early yesterday flew within 12 nautical miles (22.2km) of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) in Pingtung County, the Twitter-based military news outlet Aircraft Spots reported. The plane reportedly took off from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, at 11:50pm on Saturday and flew over the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan. Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Shih Shun-wen (史順文) said that the military was “fully aware of all sea and air activities around the nation.” The flyby is the second time a US military aircraft has approached the nation’s airspace in the past week. A US Navy Boeing P-8A on Tuesday shadowed the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, before passing through the Taiwan Strait and landing on Okinawa, the Web-based military news outlet Alert said.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
Twin-city forum date set
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that the annual Taipei-Shanghai forum is to be held in Shanghai on Thursday next week, and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was expected to attend. Ko is to depart for China the day before and return on Friday next week, the city government said, adding that this year’s forum is to focus on economic, trade, innovation and industrial exchanges.
ENTERTAINMENT
Golden Mask for VR series
The first episode of the animated virtual reality (VR) series Gloomy Eyes (咕魯米的眼睛) on Saturday won the Masque d’Or (Golden Mask) Grand Prize at the NewImages Festival Awards in Paris, France. It was the latest in a string of international awards the three-part series, produced by HTC Vive in collaboration with several international firms, has won since the first episode premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The nine-minute episode, narrated by Irish actor Colin Farrell, was commended by the four-member NewImages Festival jury for its groundbreaking storytelling and immersive perspective. Gloomy Eyes depicts a zombie struggling to find his place in a world fractured by conflict between zombies and humans.
AGRICULTURE
Chickens culled over H5N2
About 27,960 chickens on a Changhua County farm have been culled after the farm was confirmed to be infected with the H5N2 avian influenza virus, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said on Saturday. Samples taken last week from the free-range poultry farm in Fangyuan Township (芳苑) were confirmed to be infected with the virus subtype, the bureau said in a statement. Disinfection and bird flu surveillance and monitoring procedures are being carried out at nearby poultry farms, it added. Poultry farmers are urged to maintain proper ventilation in their facilities and to prevent their birds from coming in contact with wild birds to avoid an escalation of avian flu, the bureau said. Council of Agriculture data showed 26 poultry farms nationwide have had outbreaks of avian flu this year, resulting in the culling of 368,627 birds.
SPORTS
Lin signs with MLB team
Catcher Lyle Lin (林家正) on Saturday signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, becoming the first Taiwanese player to join a Major League Baseball (MLB) team via the annual draft. Lin, 21, a junior at Arizona State University, said in a Facebook post that the deal was signed at the D-Backs spring training base in Phoenix and he would joining the D-Backs minor league team in its current season.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
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