■Hsichih Trio
Men face military service
The Ministry of the Interior said yesterday that the Hsichih Trio would have to take another medical examination before it could decide whether they must serve their compulsory military service. By law, male citizens who are sentenced to more than five years or detained for more than three years are not required to complete their compulsory military service. Although Su Chien-ho (蘇建和), Liu Bing-lang (劉秉郎) and Chuang Lin-hsun (莊林勳) were detained for more than a decade, their sentences were overturned on Monday. When they were 18, before they were charged with murder, Su and Liu had been assigned to the army service and Chuang to the navy. If the physical examinations prove that the three men's health is good enough, they could be required to enroll in the military within a month.
■ Health
HIV cases rise 16 percent
The number of HIV infections in Taiwan rose 16 percent last year to 4,757, according to official statistics released yesterday. Of these, 4,373 were Taiwanese nationals, Department of Health figures showed, the rest foreign residents. The continued double-digit increase was alarming to AIDS activists, although the nation's reported infection rate was still comparatively low, an official with the Department of Health said. Statistics indicated that an overwhelming majority of the newly-diagnosed infections with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, were contracted through unprotected sexual intercourse, both homosexual and heterosexual. Infection rates in younger age groups were also on the rise, the official data showed, with the number of new HIV-positive Taiwanese aged 15-24 increasing from 58 in 1998 to 136 last year. Nearly three-quarters of Taiwan's new HIV-positive residents are aged between 20 and 39, according to the report.
■ Health insurance
Physician helping poor
A kind-hearted physician in the central Taiwan county of Nantou has spent NT$2 million (US$57,471) paying health insurance premiums for more than 100 impoverished families over the past two years, an official revealed yesterday. Tsai Shu-ling, manager of the Central Branch of the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI), said the physician volunteered to pay health insurance premiums for the families in the county's Shuili and Hsinyi townships that could not afford to pay their medical bills. Over the past two years, Tsai said, the physician has helped more than 100 impoverished families in the two mountainous townships resolve their health insurance problems, at a personal cost of more than NT$2 million. None of the beneficiaries of his philanthropic act know the identity of their benefactor, as the physician insists on anonymity and has rejected any citation from the BNHI, Tsai said.
■ Diplomacy
Tokyo seeking closer ties
The Japan Times reported yesterday that Tokyo may ease its restrictions on official exchanges with Taiwan. According to the report, Katsuhisa Uchida, chief of the Japan Interchange Association in Taipei, said Tuesday that Tokyo-Taipei ties are now mature and that higher-level policy dialogue will become necessary. The association takes care of Japan's interests in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic relations, which were severed by Tokyo in 1972 in favor of Beijing.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese