Print

Mail

wiki links

Taiwan Quick Take

■ Health
Chen calls for vigilance
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged the nation to be vigilant in the battle against SARS to eliminate the epidemic from Taiwan. "The World Health Organization removed Taiwan from its travel advisory on Tuesday. The news brought us consolation and inspiration. But there is a long way to go before we are removed from the SARS-affected area list, so we must heighten our vigilance," Chen said on TV. Chen said that since Taiwan is not a WHO member and receives little outside help, "when a crisis happens, we must rely on ourselves and stay united."

■ Military
Plane wreckage located
Search teams located a piece of the wreckage of a military training jet that disappeared in southern Taiwan 10 days ago, but its two crew members were still missing, the air force said yesterday. Aerial search teams took pictures of the piece of wreckage in the mountains near Taitung in southern Taiwan, air force official Ko Hsi-hsiung said. The pictures showed a white piece of metal with a blue and a red stripe. "We can confirm that that is a piece of the missing plane," Ko said. "So far, there is still no trace of the crew," Ko said. He said the search would continue until they found the two men. An air force pilot and flight student were flying the two-seat AT-3 plane on June 11 when ground contact was lost. Poor weather conditions and low visibility have hampered the search for the plane, which went missing in remote mountains covered by dense forest, air force officials said.

■ Palau
Travel restriction lifted
An official with Palau's Tourism Bureau in Taipei said yesterday that all Taiwanese tourists are now welcome to visit his country, except those who have visited China recently. He said Palau began to prohibit the citizens of Taiwan and all other countries on the World Health Organization's (WHO) travel advisory list from visiting his country in the western Pacific Ocean about one month ago. The ban on Taiwanese tourists has been lifted because WHO has removed Taiwan from the travel advisory list, he added.

■ Czech republic
China withdraws in protest
The People's Republic of China on Friday withdrew its participation from the 10th International Theatre Fair "Quadriennale" in Prague, in protest over the designation of Taiwan's exhibition, reported the Czech news agency CTK. Grounds for the protest was the designation of the stand simply as "Taiwan" and not "Republic of China (Taiwan)," said a Chinese diplomat. The Quadriennale's management spoke of a "misunderstanding," stating that they regretted China's decision. Chinese officials however were not made any promises concerning the designation of exhibits, a spokesman said.

■ South Africa
OCAC official touches down
Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢), vice minister of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission arrived in Johannesburg on Friday en route to Bloemfontein to attend a meeting of the Federation of Taiwan Chambers of Commerce in Africa yesterday. Chuang will also attend a meeting marking the founding anniversary of the Lesotho and African branches of the Global Alliance for Democracy and Peace today in Bloemfontein. He is scheduled to deliver speeches on the development of democracy in Taiwan at these meetings.
This story has been viewed 1950 times.