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Taiwan Quick Take

■ SARS
Avoid China, Yu says
Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday urged citizens to postpone visits to China for the traditional tomb sweeping festival, as Taiwan announced another case of a deadly flu-like illness that has also hit southern China and other parts of Asia. "For your own health, postpone trips until the severe acute respiratory syndrome is under control on the mainland," Yu said. Thousands of Taiwanese were expected to visit China this week for Saturday's tomb sweeping festival, a national holiday when families worship their ancestors and clean and maintain their graves.

■ SARS
Vietnamese workers alerted
The Taipei City Government has launched a Vietnamese-language publicity campaign to alert Vietnamese workers of the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a municipal labor official said yesterday. As part of the campaign, the official said, the municipal Bureau of Labor Affairs has produced Vietnamese-language radio programs to inform Vietnamese citizens working in Taipei of the SARS outbreak, its major symptoms, feasible disinfection measures and major agencies or medical institutions to contact in case they experience symptoms. Vietnam is listed by the World Health Organization as one of the serious SARS-affected areas. "The number of Vietnamese citizens legally working in Taipei is not large, and they are all subject to regular physical checkups, at least once every six months," the official said. He said the municipal labor bureau has tentatively decided to suspend imports of Vietnamese workers for the time being to help contain the spread of the mysterious disease.

■ Cross-strait ties
Chinese aircraft to arrive
A Chinese civilian aircraft is expected to fly to Taiwan for the first time in half a century as early as May to undergo maintenance here, it was reported yesterday. Shanghai Airlines plans to separately contract Far East Airport Transport Corp and Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation for the maintenance of two Boeing 757s and four Boeing 767s, a Chinese-language newspaper said. The Civil Aeronautics Administration has said it would be "pleased" to see the maintenance of Chinese civil aircraft here, according to the paper. And the evaluation of the landmark applications by the Mainland Affairs Council is "nearing the last stage," it said. However, the Chinese planes would be required to fly to "third places" from where they would be flown by Taiwanese pilots to here, the paper said.

■ Broadcasting
Macroview announces show
Daily news broadcasts from Taipei-based Macroview TV, which caters to overseas Chinese worldwide, are scheduled to begin at 8pm today, the Central News Agency (CNA) said yesterday. CNA's Multimedia News Department is producing and sponsoring the broadcast of the 30-minute Macroview TV News, scheduled to be aired in nine major time zones worldwide three times a day, including two reruns, beginning today, CNA said. Viewers around the world can see the timetable of the news services at www.ocac.gov.tw. The Macroview TV News is one of the many new business operations of CNA since it launched an across-the-board overhaul of its management and organizational structure last November. Macroview TV, a brainchild of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, began operations March 1, 2000.
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