■Politics
Chen stresses economics
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday in Kaohsiung City that his administration will honor its commitment to strive for an economic recovery. Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the global operation center of Walsin Technology Corporation in the Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone, Chen said that the international economy, after a two-year slowdown, is finally turning the corner. In order to grasp this opportunity, Chen said, his administration will stimulate the economy by increasing spending on public projects, reviewing limitations on foreign investment and pushing for the rejuvenation of urban areas. Noting that globalization has posed a challenge to his government, Chen said one of his administration's priorities is to persuade multinationals to set up their worldwide operation centers in Taiwan.
■ Politics
Soong begins tour
PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) left for Singapore yesterday to kick off a Southeast Asian "study" tour that may also take him to Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries in the region. Soong said prior to his departure that he intends to collect first-hand information during his trip focusing on Southeast Asian nations' strategies for coping with challenges from China's rise as an economic power. "I will meet with political leaders of Southeast Asian nations to learn what they think about China's new economic strength and how they are adjusting their economic and overall national development strategies to deal with this new situation," Soong said. The PFP leader also said he will take advantage of the visit to study the results and possible flaws of Taiwan's "go south" policy of encouraging local businesspeople to invest in Southeast Asia.
■ Agriculture
Chen lauds vegetable group
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that the government will continue to support the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC). "Taiwan's donations to the AVRDC will only increase and will never decrease under my administration," Chen said during a visit to the center in Shanhua township, Tainan County. The AVRDC is the only international organization of its kind to be headquartered in Taiwan. Its research focuses on tropical vegetable species. Taiwan's annual donation to the center accounts for 51 percent of the international aid it receives. Chen said the center has contributed greatly to the improvement of vegetable production and preservation, as well as to the collection of vegetable plasma and the promotion of fine vegetables.
■ Diplomacy
Group heads to Mongolia
Vice Minister of Transportation and Communications Yu Fang-lai (游芳來) is heading a delegation that leaves for Mongolia today for a four-day visit to promote aviation and tourism relations. Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) was scheduled to make the trip, but he said he can't leave the country because of the legislative session. Lin said the mission will discuss the feasibility of operating charter flights between Taipei and Ulan Bator, as well as the improvement of Ulan Bator International Airport and a highway connecting the airport with the city. Government statistics show that some 5,000 tourists and businessmen from Taiwan visit Mongolia annually.
Agencies
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching