SOCIETY
Students win math prizes
Taiwan won two golds, two silvers and two bronzes at the International Mathematical Olympiad, ranking 11th among the 108 countries that took part, the Ministry of Education said in a news release on Monday. The Taiwanese team was made up of six high-school students, with Lee Tien-hui (李天輝) of Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School and Cho Yu-an (卓育安) of Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School winning the gold medals, the ministry said. The silver medals were won by Chiang En-hua (江恩驊) and Chang Ting-wei (張庭瑋) of Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School, while schoolmate Chang Chi-an (張齊安) received a bronze medal, as did Hsu Meng-che (許孟哲) of the Kaohsiung school, it said. The two gold medal winners would receive a cash award of NT$200,000 (US$6,090.51) from the ministry, while the silver medal winners would receive NT$100,000 and the bronze winners NT$50,000, it said.
SOCIETY
Drinks shops fined
Seven shops in Taipei that sell hand-shaken drink and ice products have been fined after their products failed food safety inspections, the Taipei Department of Health said on Monday. The department in late April began random testing of hand-shaken drinks, ice cream and other cold products and ingredients from shops across the capital. The results of the latest batch of testing released on Monday showed that of 103 products tested, 25 failed an initial test, with suppliers asked to address the issues. However, seven products failed a second round of testing for microorganisms, the department said. The products are from seven shops, which were fined NT$30,000 to NT$3 million for breaching the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), Food and Pharmaceutical Management Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) told a news conference. The seven items were Blackball Guting Store’s “four seasons spring tea,” Truedan Neihu Jiangnan Store’s “fresh green tea with orange flavor,” Hugdayday’s “oolong tea,” Hsin Yue shaved ice store’s “red bean milk ice,” Yokohama Steakhouse Breeze Nanjing Branch’s “vanilla ice cream,” Matsu Milk Tea Wenshan Muhsin Store’s “Matsu milk tea” and Journey Kaffe Yangguang Store’s “chocolate banana smoothie,” the department said. The department also tested eight dehydrated ingredients, with two items found to contain preservatives, Lin said, adding that the stores have been asked to pull the items and the firms that produced them would be fined by the local governments that oversee them.
POLITICS
Taichung’s Lu leaves for US
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) departed for the US late on Monday for a 10-day visit, her first trip to the US since taking office at the end of 2018. Before leaving, Lu said she was making the trip to boost ties, as Taichung has 16 sister cities and two friendship cities in the US, the most of any country. She and city officials would also visit high-tech companies, meet with Taichung businesspeople working in the US, and overseas compatriots in San Francisco and greater Los Angeles, Lu said. Tacoma and Seattle in Washington, and Cupertino and San Diego in California are among the key stops on her itinerary, which lists the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle and the San Diego Convention Center as destinations, the Taichung City Government said. With Typhoon Gaemi approaching Taiwan, Lu said she held a meeting before her departure to review and organize response measures, and would return to Taiwan early if necessary.
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
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
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
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
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