■ Accident
Search for sailors abandoned
New Zealand maritime authorities said yesterday they have given up attempts to find 18 sailors believed drowned after their Taiwanese fishing boat sank in a storm earlier this month. Trying to find the 32m Lih Fa and its crew would be like "looking for a needle in a haystack," said Maritime Safety Authority compliance deputy director Bruce Maroc. "There is no active search being conducted at the moment," he said. An extensive air and sea search was launched for the vessel after its captain sent a distress message shortly after midnight on Thursday last week during the storm 800km west of New Zealand.
■ WHO
US paper supports bid
The Dallas Morning News said in an editorial on Wednesday that China's President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) should take bold steps to ensure that his government is accountable to its 1.2 billion people and drop China's obstruction of Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organization as an observer. In the editorial, titled "SARS: Secrecy can kill: China's actions now will shape its future," the newspaper said China had grossly mishandled the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. The editorial said, however, that good may come from China's mistake, if the country becomes less secretive. In that regard, one cannot help but think of the Soviet Union, which in 1986 suppressed news of a massive radiation leak at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The resulting anger helped to further then president Mikhail Gorbachev's campaign of glasnost, or openness.
■ Business
Chen urges firms to stay
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) encouraged domestic enterprises yesterday to keep their operations in the country while they prepare to enter the global market. Addressing a gathering to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Kinpo Electronics Group in Taipei, Chen said that his administration would lift all possible barriers to domestic investment and increase construction of public facilities to entice more enterprises to stay in the country. Chen said that many companies are already setting up shop in Taiwan. As an example, the president pointed to the Dinpu Hi-Tech Industrial Park (頂埔科技園區) in Tucheng, which began receiving applications last week. He said that the park could not accommodate all the applications it had already received. The president also praised the Kinpo Group as a model for Taiwan enterprises in terms of its operating style. The conglomerate established its first company in 1973 to produce calculators with only 50 employees, he said, adding that it has now more than 40 enterprises, 24 factories and more than 20,000 employees.
■ Typhoon
Kujira warning lifted
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) lifted a land warning yesterday for typhoon Kujira, which was downgraded to a tropical storm as its strength diminished. CWB weathermen said that as of 5:30 pm, Kujira was located 230km east of Hualien and was moving in a north-northeasterly direction at a speed of 20kmph toward Okinawa. The weathermen said that land areas in northeastern Taiwan, eastern Taiwan and southeastern Taiwan are all out of the influence of Kujira and that they expected to lift the sea warning later in the evening. Kujira, one of the few typhoons in many years to approach Taiwan as early as April, has caused no damage and has not brought any heavy rainfall to eastern Taiwan.
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