A legislator yesterday urged China to postpone its annual graduate school entry exams in Hong Kong because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) there.
The two-day exam, held annually in Hong Kong, is specifically for people from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau who wish to pursue post-graduate degrees in schools in China.
"In light of the spread of SARS cases in Hong Kong, I hope the Chinese authorities will postpone the exam till sometime later when the epidemic is under control," KMT Legislator Cho Po-yuan (
Hong Kong has been listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a SARS-affected area. Hong Kong has recorded 610 cases of SARS and 15 deaths.
"It is worrisome that, in order to take part in the exam, test takers will have to expose themselves to the danger of this deadly respiratory disease while in Hong Kong," he said.
According to Cho, 739 Taiwanese have registered to take part in the entry exam, which will be held at Hong Kong Polytechnic University on April 26 and April 27.
"If these students are to give up taking the entry tests [this month], they then will have to wait till next year to pursue the degree they desire," Cho said. "Yet if they go ahead and take the exam in Hong Kong now, they will face the threat of being infected with SARS.
"For the sake of humanity and the growing trend of people pursuing degrees in China, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation should take the initiative to get in touch with the Chinese authorities on this issue and ask it to postpone the exams," he said.
But the government's attitude to Taiwanese studying in China means that the it may ignore the call.
In response to Cho's call, a Mainland Affairs Council official, who did not want to be identified, said that since the government did not recognize degrees obtained in China and did not encourage Taiwanese to study there, the council could not act as Cho had suggested.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai