■ Education
NTU holds online ceremony
National Taiwan University held an unprecedented online graduation ceremony yesterday following concerns about SARS. University President Chen Wei-chao (陳維昭) said in his opening remarks that the trend-setting online commencement ceremony was a forced choice out of health concerns. "Despite the absence of a traditional-style ceremony, the school faculty and junior students want to offer no less best wishes to all the new graduates through the online ceremony," Chen said in a scaled-down ceremony held at the school's largest conference room which was broadcast on the Internet. The deans of various university colleges and 31 representatives of graduating students were present at the ceremony, which was available online at the university's Web site at http://www.ntu.edu.tw. "I'm hopeful that all the new graduates will never be daunted by any adversities in pursuit of their career or life goals in the future," Chen said.
■ Liberia
Embassy staff safe
With the conflict in Liberia intensifying, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that the staff of the Taiwan embassy in the west African nation is safe and sound and that the US Embassy has agreed to help evacuate Taiwan diplomatic personnel and nationals in an emergency. Associated Press wire reports said that fighting raged Friday in a northern suburb of Monrovia, the capital of civil-war torn Liberia, and that terrified civilians were fleeing by the thousands as rebels took control of refugee camps around the city. The officials said that the ministry has kept in close contact with the Taiwan embassy and learned that the embassy has completed contingency plans. Ambassador Chen Yung-chuo (陳永綽) and his wife, as well as three diplomatic personnel, two Taiwan technical experts, and two Taiwan nationals are all safe and sound, they said.
■ HEalth
US lends hand to fight
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) has sent nearly 20 medical experts to Taiwan since late March to help with the island's battle against SARS. The experts, including in-hospital infection control specialists, virologists, epidemiologists and physicians, have won the respect and admiration of local health care providers with their professional expertise and devotion to their work. Many of them can speak fluent Mandarin Chinese and even the Taiwanese dialect. Their good command of the Chinese language has greatly facilitated their communication with local patients and hospital staff. However, they have generally kept a low profile, probably because of their official capacity. Taiwan and the US do not maintain formal diplomatic relations despite their close substantive ties. CDC Deputy Director Hsu Kuo-hsiung (許國雄) said several of the USCDC staff in Taiwan are ethnic Chinese, some of whom were born here.
■ United States
Foundation donates money
The Taiwanese American Foundation in San Diego, California, on Friday donated US$500,000 to the University of California at Santa Barbara for promoting a program of lectures on the literature, history, sand culture of Taiwan. After accepting the donation, Henry Yang, president of the university, said the program will help promote the university's academic studies on East Asian culture and languages.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
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