SCIENCE
Chiayi skeletons analyzed
Archeologists have unearthed human remains belonging to the earliest known residents of Chiayi, with an analysis showing that squatting and chewing betel nuts were common among the area’s people 2,500 years ago. The Tainan Branch of the National Museum of Prehistory this week said that two out of 13 skeletons discovered during work on the Chiayi railway elevation project were 2,500 to 2,700 years old. The two skeletons fully examined so far are believed to belong to a 35-year-old man and a 20-year-old whose sex could not be determined, it said. Squatting facets were found on the tibia of the male skeleton, indicating that Chiayi’s earliest residents habitually squatted, it said. A tooth belonging to the other skeleton was stained a brownish-red color, which the museum said was thought to have been caused by chewing betel nuts.
DIPLOMACY
Portuguese group arrives
A seven-member Portuguese parliamentary delegation arrived in Taiwan on Friday for a six-day visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The delegation is expected to exchange views with government officials and lawmakers on issues such as Taiwan-Portugal relations, economic resilience and regional situations, the ministry said. The delegation is led by Paulo Rios de Oliveira of the Social Democratic Party, and is made up of politicians who are firm friends with Taiwan and have continuously pushed for the nation’s participation in the World Health Assembly each year, the ministry said.
GOVERNMENT
Tsai touts women’s policy
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday highlighted her administration’s efforts to empower women, saying that women are encouraged to participate in public affairs and run their own businesses. Women comprise 42.9 percent of legislators, the highest percentage in Asia, while more than 37 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises in the country are managed by women, Tsai said in a recorded speech at the opening of the Zonta Asian Inter-District Meeting in Kaohsiung. That is because of Taiwan’s gender-friendly environment, which motivates women to enter public office or start their own businesses, she said. In 2021, her administration launched the Women’s Empowerment Project in collaboration with Taiwan’s democratic partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to help women enhance their vocational skills, and to provide consultations and other resources to help them start a business, she said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Taipei concert promoted
Musicians taking part in a project collecting Austronesian music are to perform in Taipei today. Baobao Chen (陳玟臻), producer of the Small Island Big Song LIVE concert at the National Concert Hall, said that six core members of the project, including Taiwanese musicians Souljaljui, a Paiwan, and Putad, an Atayal, would perform. The other four musicians are Manu Desroches and Emlyn from Mauritius, Sammy from Madagascar and Richard Mogu from Papua New Guinea, Chen said. They would be joined by New Zealand-born singer-songwriter, director and dancer Olivia Foa’i, she said. Audiences would hear live music, and see dance performances and sceneries of the island nations represented projected onto the stage, while performers would share stories about the eight-year journey of the Austronesian project cofounded by Chen and Australian music producer Tim Cole, she said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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