DIPLOMACY
Tsai to speak at summit
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to share Taiwan’s experience in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and its achievements on the road to democracy at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit via video, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The annual meeting, organized by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2017 by former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is to take place on Thursday and Friday next week in a virtual setting because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “President Tsai will be the first to speak on the second day of the summit,” Kendra Chen (陳詠韶), deputy director-general of the ministry’s Department of European Affairs, told a regular press conference in Taipei. Other speakers include US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova.
DIPLOMACY
Foreign envoys announced
The Presidential Office yesterday announced changes in diplomatic positions, following a minor Cabinet reshuffle on May 20, when President Tsai Ing-wen started her second term. Former deputy minister of foreign affairs Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵) has been appointed representative to the UK, replacing David Lin (林永樂), who is retiring. Former National Security Council (NSC) deputy secretary-general Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) is to be the new representative to the EU and Belgium, taking over the position from Harry Tseng (曾厚仁), who is to serve as deputy minister of foreign affairs. Former deputy minister of foreign affairs Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) is to take up the position of NSC deputy secretary-general. Former Environmental Protection Administration minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) has been tapped as representative to Thailand, replacing Tung Chen-yuan (童振源), who left the post last month after becoming the minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council.
SOCIETY
Teen detained over stabbing
The Shilin District Court’s Juvenile Court yesterday approved a request to detain a 16-year-old high-school student for allegedly repeatedly stabbing a 10-year-old girl at a school in New Taipei City earlier in the day. The suspect, surnamed Liu (劉), allegedly took a fruit knife to school and attacked a girl, surnamed Wei (魏), when she arrived at about 7am before classes started. Liu allegedly stabbed Wei in the back several times before he was restrained by a school volunteer and a teacher at the scene, New Taipei City police said. Wei sustained multiple wounds ranging from 4cm to 10cm in length and was immediately taken to a nearby hospital. A hospital spokesperson said that her condition was not life-threatening and had stabilized. During questioning, Liu said he does not know Wei and was unable to explain why he stabbed her, saying only that he “lost control,” police said.
TRANSPORTATION
Express train rides sold out
Long-distance express train tickets for travel at peak times for the four-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday later this month are sold out, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said on Wednesday. More than 285,000 tickets were sold online, via telephone or at convenience stores in the early hours of Wednesday morning, TRA data showed.
Among the sold-out Tze-Ching Express tickets were those for travel from Taipei to Hualien County from noon on June 24 (the day before the holiday begins) to 6pm on June 25; from Taipei to Taitung County on June 24 and 25; and from Taitung and Hualien to Taipei on June 28 for all trains departing after 7am. On the line that goes north-south in western Taiwan, express train tickets from Taipei to Kaohsiung between 1pm on June 24 and 11am on June 25, as well as those from Kaohsiung to Taipei between 9am and 5pm on June 28 were sold out. Tze-Chiang express train tickets from Kaohsiung to Taitung on the South-link line for travel on June 25 before noon were also sold out, the agency said.
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
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
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