Chunghwa Post on Tuesday is to release a set of stamps featuring two Taiwanse mosques to highlight cultural diversity in the nation, it said.
The two-stamp set features the Taipei Grand Mosque and the Taichung Mosque, with denominations of NT$15 and NT$28 respectively.
The Taipei Grand Mosque in the city’s Daan District (大安) is a municipal heritage site, Chunghwa Post said.
Photo courtesy of Chunghwa Post
The external walls of the wings of the building are framed with arches, while the central building is topped with a golden dome, it said, adding that the mosque is flanked on either side with a 20m-tall minaret.
The Taichung Mosque is in the city’s Nantun District (南屯), where it operates as a center for learning, gathering and prayer for Muslims in the area.
The stamps are to be available at post offices nationwide, the Postal Museum and online, Chunghwa Post said.
Photo: Cheng Wei-chi, Taipei Times
The state-run company is also continuing a trend it set last year by issuing a series of discs etched with the year’s Chinese zodiac sign, which next year is the Ox.
The discs are to be made available on Oct. 5, in gold, silver and copper, the company said.
Chunghwa Post spokesman Kuo Chun-yang (郭純陽) on Friday said that the post office had, before last year, commonly issued zodiac-themed stamps.
“We considered that the zodiac system is unique and should be celebrated with more than themed stamps,” Kuo said.
Last year, Chunghwa Post issued a limited-edition run of discs, which the company was confident would grow in value for collectors, he said.
The etching on this year’s gold discs is based on the NT$13 denomination edition of the post office’s zodiac-themed stamp and is made of pure gold, weighing 10g, Kuo said, adding that it would be limited to 1,500 units and sold for NT$22,000 each.
There are two versions of the silver disc, based on the NT$6 and the NT$13 denomination stamps, Kuo said.
The pure-silver discs weigh 28g each and would be sold for NT$2,150 each, with each version limited to 1,000 units, he said.
The copper discs are limited to 660 units and would be sold for NT$2,680 each, he added.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS