■Weather
Taipei cooks in 38℃ heat
Temperatures in Taipei hit 37.8℃ yesterday, the highest on record so far this year and the sixth-highest since records began early last century. A weatherman with the Central Weather Bureau said that the weather will remain hot and humid throughout the nation for at least the next three days under the influence of a strong high pressure system in the Western Pacific. Temperatures yesterday were over 35℃ everywhere in the nation. There might be some afternoon thunderstorms on Thursday and over the weekend, the weatherman said.
■ Travel
Qatar lifts entry ban
The Qatari Ministry of Health on Sunday lifted an entry ban imposed on travelers coming from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. An official source at the Health Ministry said this step followed the latest reports of the World Health Organization regarding the SARS disease, indicating it was under complete control in these countries and that no new cases were registered lately. The ministry had imposed a 14-day quarantine on travellers coming from these places. The source confirmed that no cases of SARS infection have been registered in Qatar.
■ Foreign labor
Fire kills Thai woman
A Thai woman was killed in a fire at a textile factory in Chiayi County's Shuishang township late Sunday night, police said yesterday. Two other Thai women who worked at the factory were badly burned in the fire and remain in critical condition in intensive-care wards, police said. The deceased was identified as Strilark, police said, adding that the 22-year-old had inhaled too much smoke and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. The injured women were unconscious when firefighters discovered them and took them out of the burning factory building.
■ Environment
Fat fish go on diet
The National Pingtung Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium has been feeding vegetables to the sea fish in its aquarium to help them lose weight. "We used to feed our fish shrimps, squid and oyster. After eating this for a long time, the fish became fat and their colors faded. The increased nitrogen in their excrement polluted the water in the aquariums," a marine biologist at the Pingtung aquarium said by phone. "The meat diet also affected their hormones, disturbing their breeding cycle," he said. "Through research, we realized that fish in the sea eat both meat and sea weeds," he said. So last year, the aquarium began to add two vegetable meals to the diet of the fish. "Twice a day we tie vegetables with ropes and dip them into the aquariums. The fish swamp to the veggies and chew on them," the biologist said. The vegetables are mainly cabbage, spinach, carrot and turnip.
■ Diplomacy
Farmers help Panama
Taiwanese agricultural experts have helped farmers in Panama's Darien, Veraguas, Herrera and Cocle provinces to build structures for growing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans and other vegetables, according to officials of the Republic of China Embassy in the central American country. Each structure covers either 175m2 or 350m2 of land and allows for pest- and climate-controlled conditions for the vegetables being cultivated. So far, 37 of the structures have been built under a cooperation project, according to the officials.
Agencies
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all