The government has 143 food distribution stations around the nation and supply chains that are “fully planned” in the event of an emergency such as an invasion by China, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said on Wednesday.
Chen also during a legislative hearing said that Taiwan “currently has five-and-a-half months of public grain reserves” which could increase to “about eight or nine months if [this year’s] harvest is good.”
The state-run reserves “usually last from eight to 12 months,” but Taiwan also has private grain reserves, which means at present the nation’s food needs could be met for a year, he said.
Photo: Yeh Yung-chien, Taipei Times
The distribution process is a collaboration between central and local governments, although the central government “would not directly” handle food distribution in a national emergency, Chen added.
While there are 143 stations, not every county or city requires one, since food distribution plans are not based on those administrative divisions, Chen said.
The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) would provide more detailed information on food distribution plans as part of ongoing preparations for emergency scenarios, including war and natural disasters, he said.
The minister was responding to concerns raised by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), who cited a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Taiwan’s food security.
The US think tank report said that a Chinese blockade could “at any time” prevent ships from reaching Taiwan, which imports 70 percent of its food and 96 percent of its energy, Weng said.
On Oct. 14 last year, for instance, the China’s military conducted large-scale drills around Taiwan that, according to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, focused on capabilities including “the blockade and control of key ports and areas.”
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 High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and