TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The final stop in the month-long, six-city blood drive campaign, led by Da Da Digital Charity Foundation (DDDCF), arrived in Kaohsiung on Monday (March 25).
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) appeared onstage with DDDCF Chair Dai Yong-hui (戴永輝) along with Kaohsiung City Government department heads, encouraging citizens aged 17 to 65 to donate blood. Dai said the target for the blood drive was 10,800 bags of blood, and with more than 9,200 bags collected so far, the blood drive is assured of success. In addition to sponsoring the blood drive, DDDCF also donated a small bus to the Kaohsiung City Government to assist in the pick-up and transport of disabled individuals. Chen said the vehicle will be of assistance to those requiring long-term care in Kaohsiung's mountainous areas. DDDCF emphasized that blood donation can save lives. Furthermore, regular blood donation can be beneficial to the donor's body by promoting metabolism and regeneration of blood cells. Kaohsiung City Government announced that four different blood collection centers will be opened in Nanzi, Zuoying, Qianjin, and Jiuru and will run throughout the week, concluding on Sunday (March 31). To encourage people to donate blood, DDDCF will provide those who donate blood with the choice of a coupon for one month of free DaDa broadband and cable TV or a special gift box.
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TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Denmark has reportedly recently started changing the nationality of some Taiwanese residents to "Chinese."
Danish newspaper Berlingske on Sunday (March 24) reported on the case of a Taiwanese woman identified as Liao Tzu-jung (35), who with her Danish partner Daniel Mulnaes (36) recently moved to Denmark. However, when they received notification of their residence cards in February, Liao was shocked to see that her Danish residence card listed her status as "Citizen of China." These residence ID cards are similar in size and appearance to driver's licenses in Denmark and show proof that a foreign national has permission to reside in the country. In the past, Taiwanese were allowed to list their country of origin on these cards as "Taiwan." Liao said she was "surprised and shocked" by the erroneous entry on the card. "My partner has always said that Denmark is a country that respects everyone. It is a country for freedom," said Liao. According to the newspaper, at least 10 Taiwanese residents have reported to have been subjected to this new policy in Denmark. The government department responsible for creating such ID cards, the Agency for International Recruitment (SIRI), said that changing the country of origin for Taiwanese was the correction of a "regrettable mistake." The agency said that in the past, it had by "mistake" registered Taiwanese as being from Taiwan. It claimed that for many years it had a "non-uniform practice" for registering the country of birth for Taiwanese. According to SIRI, it became aware of the "disparate practice" and "reinforced" to agency staff that holders of Taiwanese passports must be registered as citizens of China. SIRI officials explained that because Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state, Taiwanese must be registered under a recognized country. Since 1978, Taiwanese have been able to list their country of birth as Taiwan. However, in 2021, the Ministry of Interior sent a letter to all municipalities presenting a contradictory directive that although neither Taiwan nor Palestine are officially recognized as countries by Denmark, Taiwanese must be registered as coming from China, while Palestinians can list their country of origin as Palestine. One of the reporters for the piece, Alexander Sjoberg explained to Taiwan News that the Danish government made an exception to the rule for Palestinians due to "protests from citizen groups." Sjoberg said although the decision was made a few years ago, it is not clear why Denmark has only recently started enforcing the rule with Taiwanese citizens. In response to the change, Taiwan Corner Chair Michael Danielsen said, “It is shocking that Denmark is telling Taiwan’s 24 million inhabitants that they are Chinese and may no longer stand by its ‘one-China policy,’ which until now has not taken a position on Taiwan’s status." Danielson added that this is a "paradigm shift in Denmark’s policy, and we are going alone in the EU." Danielson pointed out that this policy change has political ramifications because it demonstrates a departure from Denmark's previous "one China" policy, in which it recognizes China as the sole representative of China, but holds an ambiguous stance on whether or not this means Taiwan is part of China. This new policy points to a shift toward following Beijing's "one China" principle, which claims that there is only one China and that Taiwan is an integral part of China. Although the Danish government said that the residence IDs are only used for the residence permit and the country of origin on the cards should not have any effect on the rights of its holders, Liao said, "We have heard about many things that can go wrong if I am registered as Chinese. If I have the wrong nationality, it could mean problems with banks, insurance, and so on." Liao also noted that if she and Mulnaes get married in Denmark, she will be registered as "Chinese." She worried that this could cause problems if she tried to return to Taiwan because of her new status as a "Chinese citizen." When asked by Taiwan News to comment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesperson Jeff Liu (劉永健) obtained relevant information and instructed its representative office in Denmark to express serious concern to the Danish government, urging it to promptly correct this issue. Liu said MOFA will closely monitor developments and continue to urge Denmark to rectify the situation to "safeguard the dignity of our nation and the rights of Taiwanese nationals residing abroad." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark has yet to respond to a request by Taiwan News for comment on its policy toward Taiwanese. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tens of thousands of fish carcasses were found floating on the surface of a Taichung river on Monday (March 24) in an incident some suspect was caused by a wastewater discharge from an upstream factory.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Chiang Ho-shu (江和樹) said the site of thousands of dead fish in the Toubiankeng River is a common sight on Mondays. Chiang said it was suspected that upstream factories were secretly discharging wastewater over the weekend. The Taichung City Environmental Protection Bureau said testing had discovered a lack of oxygen in the river's waters in recent days. It did not comment on reported suspicions that wastewater was to blame and said investigations were ongoing. Authorities’ inspections found that no heavy metals or poisons were detected in the water, and pH levels were within the normal range. It said low oxygen levels in the water caused by increased aquatic plant activity following reduced rainfall was suspected to be the main cause of the fish dying en masse. Authorities also said that those who violate water protection regulations may be fined up to NT$3 million (US$94,000), and companies may be fined up to NT$20 million. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) ordered SHS Biotech and HealthTake to recall its products containing red yeast rice (beni koji) on Monday (March 25).
Twenty-six people in Japan on Monday were hospitalized after taking supplements containing Japanese red yeast rice made by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, Japan Times reported. The company said that it supplied the ingredient to approximately 50 companies, per NHK World-Japan. Following these reports, the TFDA launched an investigation and found two Taiwanese companies were selling products containing the ingredients. The TFDA ordered the companies to remove products containing red yeast rice from shelves. Meanwhile, the government has halted the import of products containing the ingredient. TFDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said that the two companies were importing the ingredient for use in capsules. As for the products themselves, the TFDA will track them down with help from local governments, he added. The TFDA said that any companies using Kobayashi Pharmaceutical’s red yeast rice must stop using the ingredient. Failure to report and continued use of red yeast rice will result in a fine between NT$30,000 (US$941) and NT$3,000,000 per Article 47 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, the agency said. Both SHS Biotech and HealthTake have issued statements on their websites, warning consumers to avoid buying their products containing red yeast rice and said no health issues have occurred from consumers using their products. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 13 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Monday (March 25) and 6 a.m. on Tuesday (March 26).
Of the 13 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, three entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. No PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line during that time. In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the PLA activity. So far this month, Taiwan has tracked Chinese military aircraft 314 times and naval vessels 172 times. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan. Gray zone tactics are defined as “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force.” TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A “die-in” protest was held in Taipei on Sunday (March 24) to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the end of a recently established joint Taiwan-Israel parliamentary group.
Protestors laid at the entrance to Liberty Square to show solidarity with the over 30,000 Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7. Recordings taken in Gaza of drone strikes and aerial bombings were played to represent the “constant threat of violence” people in Gaza face, organizers said. Organizers For Peace TW (可以自由巴) encouraged protestors to write to their local legislators to call for a ceasefire. The group helped Taiwanese participants write letters to legislators who are a part of the Taiwan-Israel Congressional Association, calling on them to withdraw from the group. The Congressional Association was established in February. Taiwan has expressed support for Israel since Hamas launched a surprise attack that killed over 1,100 people in Israel in October. Since the attack, in addition to the over 32,000 Palestinians killed, an estimated 70,000 have been injured. Children are reported to make up over 40% of the injured and dead, while Israeli airstrikes on healthcare systems in Gaza have been described as “unrelenting” and condemned by the United Nations human rights commissioner. “And let us not forget the 7 million Palestinian refugees who continued to be denied their right to return to their homes,” Palestinian scholar Hazem Almassry said at the protest. He said the United Nations charter "enshrines the right of all peoples to self-determination, to rid the world of colonialism and apartheid." “Yet the Palestinian people have been denied this right for decades,” he added. Hazem said losing a family member in a bombing is an experience shared among Gazan families, and some families have been “wiped off the civil registry entirely.” Hazem recently lost his mother in an Israeli airstrike. He also noted that people in Gaza are unable to find food. On March 18, the UN food program said at least 300,000 people face famine in Gaza, while 1.1 million are experiencing “catastrophic hunger.” Meanwhile, aid groups said it had become nearly impossible to get food aid into Gaza because of difficulty coordinating with the Israeli military. “I implore you not to overlook their daily struggle for survival,” Hazem said. Shih Yi-hsiang (施逸翔), a senior researcher at the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, said that the Taiwanese legislators who are part of the Taiwan-Israel parliamentary group should “understand they are not on the right side of history.” He said because of their country’s history of transitioning from authoritarianism to democracy, Taiwanese people should support Palestinians. Shih said that through Taiwan’s ongoing transitional justice project, the pain of families and victims of the White Terror and martial law is being recognized. He said that Taiwanese people should extend the same empathy and care to the Palestinian people, who have also been repressed by an outside force. Organizers gathered about 200 letters to send to legislators, calling on them to remove themselves from the Taiwan-Israel parliamentary group, which is led by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator for Pingtung Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱). Chung’s office said they had received Taiwan News’ queries regarding protestors’ demands but did not provide a response by the time of publication. Lala Lau (劉璧嘉) of For Peace Taiwan told Taiwan News that the group started to encourage members of the public to send letters to legislators after the death of a U.S. Air Force member. Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C. in late February, saying he “will no longer be complicit in genocide." “He reminded us that we should not be complicit in genocide, so we started to investigate how Taiwan may be complicit in this too,” she said. She said that the government has a responsibility to prevent the war in Gaza. “We don’t want to be represented by these legislators," she said. "We elected them, but now they are doing things we don’t agree with. They are making us complicit by facilitating economic and technological exchange with Israel, which will most likely be linked to the genocide,” Lau said. Hazem told Taiwan News he supports the public contacting their elected representatives. “Any steps toward making the Taiwan government change their attitude to this situation will be helpful,” he said. He said Taiwan’s government pays attention to public sentiment, and if it believes the public is shifting away from support for the Israeli government, it will take steps to change its position. “At least to call for a ceasefire, and not show solidarity with the people who are committing the crime now,” he said. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Navy revealed that it has sent 11 letters to the U.S. urging the expedited delivery of 250 Stinger missiles it previously requested.
Since 2021, it also sent two formal complaints to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) calling for the project manager to be replaced and regular meetings, the Navy said. DSCA announced a potential sale of the Stinger missiles, 70 Gripstock Control Groups, 62 friend or foe transponders, and other related equipment in December 2015 for US$6.93 billion (US$217 million). The Navy has allocated a budget of NT$6.19 billion from 2017 to 2025 to purchase the missiles. It said the U.S. said missile production was underway and there were no delays, with delivery to be completed by 2024. The Navy said it would continue to request regular meetings with U.S. counterparts to keep tabs on the progress. Meanwhile, the Army also purchased 250 Stinger missiles and related equipment to enhance short-range air defense capabilities. It set aside NT$7.3 billion from 2019 to 2025. DSCA announced the potential sale in July 2019. The Stinger missile is a lightweight air defense system that can be deployed rapidly by ground forces. Taiwan has been purchasing more mobile and cost-effective weapons to bolster its asymmetric warfare capabilities. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A soldier in southern Taiwan, driving a car with his mother in the passenger seat, reportedly drove off a pier into the ocean on Sunday (March 24) afternoon.
The man, a 37-year-old surnamed Huang (黃), drove his mother, a 68-year-old surnamed Tai (戴), to the Nanliao Fishing Port shortly after noon on Sunday. He allegedly drove the vehicle directly into the sea, prompting a rescue operation. Security personnel on duty at the port immediately called the Kaohsiung Fire Department and Police Department to rescue the occupants of the car. Huang was pulled from the water with minor injuries, but his mother showed no signs of life when she was pulled from the sunken vehicle after about 30 minutes in the water. After being rushed to the hospital, Tai was pronounced dead, while Huang remained under supervision following the incident. Huang told authorities that his mother had been suffering from dementia and could no longer bear the pain of living with her condition. Police are still questioning Huang over his intentions as he drove his mother to Nanliao Fishing Port on Sunday. Although evidence of a crime is likely to be found, the incident may present a complicated case for prosecutors. According to the Criminal Code, a person found guilty of agreeing to kill another person may serve 1-7 years in jail. The code also stipulates that assisting another person commit suicide may result in a jail sentence of no more than 5 years. However, two issues must be considered before prosecutors can move forward with charges against Huang. Investigators must determine whether or not Tai had instructed her son before the incident, and second, whether or not Huang intended to kill himself when he drove his car into the harbor. Depending on the findings of the officers investigating the case, Huang may be charged with homicide, or with assisting his mother to commit suicide. Alternately, Huang may be released without charge, if it is determined he was also suicidal at the time of the incident. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. (TRTC) on Friday (March 22) announced that Taipei Metro will operate special trains in which passengers can take their pets onboard on Sunday (March 31).
The TRTC said two "pet-friendly trains" on the MRT Red Line (Tamsui-Xinyi Line) will operate on Sunday starting at 1 p.m. The trains will depart from Xiangshan Station and Tamsui Station and conduct eight round trips. The last departure time for the pet trains from Xiangshan Station is 4:57 p.m. and 4:24 p.m. at Tamsui Station. The trains will stop at all stations along the route, and no prior registration is required for boarding. Trains will take about 1 to 1.5 hours to complete their journeys. The TRTC said that to maintain passenger rights, the pet-friendly trains are an additional service that does not affect the existing timetable and passengers who wish to take regular trains can simply wait for the next train at the platform. Owners bringing dogs or cats aboard are asked to place them in pet carriers or strollers upon entering the station, ensuring that no part of their head, tail, or limbs protrudes. Once on board, the pets can be released from their carriers but must be kept on a harness or leash. Regarding fares for pet-friendly trains, the same regulations as Taipei Metro's "Bringing Pets on the Metro" policy apply. Owners and accompanying family or friends will be charged according to the current ticket prices. Small and medium-sized pet strollers do not require additional tickets. However, for large pet strollers, passengers need to purchase a one-way ticket for both themselves and the pet is NT$80 (US$2.50), and they should board the train from the first or last carriage. Owners are reminded to ensure their pets' health and safety by completing pet registration, ensuring vaccinations (such as rabies), and administering flea prevention medication before boarding. Since there are no separate dog or cat compartments on the trains, owners are advised to monitor their pets to avoid inconveniencing other passengers. Trains will be staffed with pet trainers, security personnel, and cleaners to provide necessary assistance. The two pet-friendly trains will have colorful decals affixed on the doors and the words "Pet Train" on the sides and front of the trains to make them easily identifiable. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday (March 30) and Sunday, pet markets will be held outside Tamsui, Yuanshan, and Daan Forest Park stations along the Red Line. These markets will feature various stalls selling food, clothing, shelters, and carriers for "furry children" and activities for both pets and their owners, according to the TRTC. A special activity exclusively for Taipei Metro members will be held on Sunday when participants can join quizzes at the pet market in Xinyi Plaza and the Taipei Metro booth for a chance to win prizes. All are welcome to participate. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nozaki Takao was out for an early morning run on Saturday (March 23) in Tainan when he encountered an emu sharing the roadway with him.
Nozaki was out for a 12-kilometer run around Yuguang Island in Tainan's Anping District when he noticed the bird he initially thought was an ostrich. He was careful to keep his distance and waited for the emu to leave before proceeding further. In speaking with local media later, Nozaki smiled and said the encounter left him feeling that Yuguang Island was a "natural wonderland." Nozaki is a foreign affairs advisor to the Tainan City Government and the former head of the Tainan City Japanese Association. While Nozaki was amused by the encounter, the emu has been a sort of headache for those living on Yuguang Island. According to local borough chief Lin Ning-feng (林寧峰), the emu was kept by a resident as a pet for two years. Lin said the owner never thought the emu would grow so large. He also had trouble keeping it inside an enclosure, as it would escape from time to time. According to Lin, the owner was worried the emu would scare people on scooters or those walking around the island. The emu could also have potentially hurt people. The owner eventually gave the emu to Tainan's Bureau of Agriculture, which then outsourced its care to a local company. After receiving multiple reports of the stray emu, municipal officials dispatched staff to capture the flightless bird. It was safely returned to the company entrusted with its care. As for Nozaki, he estimated the bird was about half the height of a person. Although the bird was lively and did not seem afraid of strangers, he wanted to keep his distance and took pictures from afar. |
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