DIPLOMACY
Guatemala touts coffee
Guatemalan Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Karla Samoyoa on Thursday said she hoped Taiwan can help the Central American country’s coffee industry reach new heights. In a prerecorded video message at a tasting event in Taipei, Samoyoa said that Guatemala’s coffee exports to Taiwan increased 46 percent over the past two years to become Taiwan’s fourth-largest supplier of beans. Samoyoa also praised bilateral ties with Taipei, saying that diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Guatemala were “stronger than ever.” The tasting event was organized by the Guatemalan embassy and the government-funded Central America Trade Office (CATO) to promote Guatemalan coffee. Attendees at the fourth edition of the event sampled brews using industry-standard cupping techniques that measure the body, sweetness, acidity and aftertaste of coffee beans. Representatives and tasters from more than 30 Taiwan-based companies sampled and rated 33 varieties of Guatemalan coffee at the event, CATO head Augusto Liao (廖鴻達) said.
EDUCATION
Taiwan rises in reading
Taiwan has moved up one place to rank seventh out of 44 countries and areas that took part in an international comparative assessment of student achievement in reading, the Ministry of Education said on Tuesday. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2021 international assessment of reading comprehension found Taiwan scoring 544 on average, which advanced the country in the rankings relative to 2016, the previous time the study was conducted. The study assesses reading and comprehension at the fourth-grade level of the participating countries and areas. For instance, students were asked to retrieve explicitly stated information, interpret ideas and evaluate content. Singapore ranked first in the survey.
SOCIETY
Tainan to change crossing
An exclusive pedestrian phase is to be added next week at an intersection in Tainan where a three-year-old girl was hit and killed by a car while she was legally crossing the street with her mother earlier this month, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said on Thursday. The phase, which stops traffic in all directions while pedestrians cross, is expected to go into use at the intersection of Chenggong and Xinyi roads on Friday next week, Huang said during an inspection of traffic conditions in the area. The city has launched a plan to improve pedestrian safety at the city’s 100 most dangerous intersections by the end of this year, he said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
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