EDUCATION
Curriculum draws criticism
The Ministry of Education yesterday defended changes it made to school curriculum guidelines in 2019 that have resulted in some well-known authors being excluded from English textbooks in favor of more domestic content. In a recent article that was widely shared online, a person identifying themselves as a high-school English teacher said that classic texts by Ernest Hemingway, Martin Luther King Jr and William Shakespeare were removed from student textbooks under the updated guidelines. Publishers replaced them with lessons on Taiwan-related topics such as “roadside banquets,” Matsu pilgrimages, flying fish season on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and 7-Eleven, the teacher said. The ministry yesterday said that the changes emphasized the practical use of foreign languages, as well as their “immediacy” and relevance to daily life. The ministry said its guidelines had asked publishers to select content that “proceeds from issues related to daily life,” and gradually expands to focus on broader social issues.
SOCIETY
Ship runs aground
A Cameroon-registered freighter that began drifting after losing power near Jibei Islet (吉貝) in Penghu County has run aground in waters north of Baisha Township (白沙), but all nine sailors aboard the vessel are accounted for, Taiwanese authorities said yesterday. The Maritime and Port Bureau said it received a report early yesterday that the 499-tonne Hai Shou freighter was drifting in waters off Jibei, the biggest island north of Penghu’s main island, after losing power due to a mechanical failure. The vessel had originally set sail from Taichung without cargo on board and was heading for Kaohsiung, but it lost power soon after leaving the central Taiwan port, the agency said. In an update later, the port agency said that despite dropping anchor, the vessel had continued drifting, buffeted by strong winds and had run aground in waters 0.4 nautical miles (741m) north of Penghu’s Baisha Township. The vessel’s nine crew members, all nationals of Myanmar, were rescued by a National Airborne Service Corps helicopter yesterday afternoon after the captain gave the order to abandon the ship. They are all in good condition and being put up at the Sheng Kuo Hotel in Magong City, the agency said.
POLITICS
MOFA conveys condolences
The government yesterday expressed its condolences over the death of Kuwaiti monarch, Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al Sabah, who passed away on Saturday aged 86. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it has instructed representative to Kuwait Tan Kou-ting (譚國定) to convey condolences from the government and Taiwanese to the Kuwaiti authorities over the monarch’s passing. Although Taiwan does not have official diplomatic relations with the Middle Eastern country, it has operated the Taipei Commercial Representative Office in Jabriah, in the Kuwaiti province of Hawally, since 1986. Kuwait University has provided annual scholarships to an undisclosed number of Taiwanese students from National Taiwan University and Nation Chengchi University to study Arabic. Currently, nine Taiwanese students are studying Arabic at Kuwait University. Meanwhile, one Kuwaiti student has been studying for a master’s degree at Ming Chuan University under a Ministry of Education scholarship since 2019.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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