■ Arts
Troupe invited to El Salvador
The visiting president of El Salvador, Francisco Flores, invited Taiwan's Cloud Gate Dance Theatre to perform in San Salvador. Flores extended the invitation in person to Lin Huai-min (林懷民), founder of the world-renowned contemporary dance troupe, after attending the group's performance at the National Theater in Taipei yesterday. Flores arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday to take part in the fourth summit of heads of state from Taiwan, Central American nations and the Dominican Republic held the following day. He conducted a fact-finding tour of eastern Taiwan following the summit and returned to Taipei yesterday afternoon. Flores is scheduled to sign a joint communique with his Taiwanese counterpart, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), before departing Taiwan today. Delegations from eight Central American and Caribbean countries were in Taipei last week for a gathhering of Taiwan's diplomatic allies.
■ Overseas affairs
OCAC official talks tough
Liao Sheng-hsiung (廖勝雄), deputy minister of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) of the Executive Yuan, on Saturday urged overseas Chinese to strengthen their solidarity in order to prevent communist China from sowing seeds of discord in their communities. Liao, who is in San Jose to attend an annual conference of the Taiwanese Amity Association in the US, said at the meeting that Taiwan's government, regardless of which political party is running the country, treats all overseas Chinese communities equally and fairly. He said the OCAC is doing its best to serve overseas Chinese communities around the world. Currently, the OCAC has 17 cultural centers to serve overseas Chinese. Three more are being set up in Washington, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Vancouver, Canada.
■ Business
Intel chief visits Taiwan
Craig Barrett, the chief executive officer of Intel, arrived in Taiwan yesterday evening for a brief visit. He is expected to announce the company's plan to set up a research and development center in Taiwan during a news conference today. Barrett will meet local business leaders and government officials during his whirlwind visit. He is set to depart Taiwan today.
■ Education
President honors `little suns'
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday presented the "Presidential Education Award" to 68 students from elementary, junior high and senior high schools around Taiwan at the Tainan Municipal Cultural Center in recognition of their strength and perseverance in the face of many difficulties in their surroundings. Calling all of them Taiwan's "little suns," Chen said he is very happy to have the opportunity to encourage in person those diligent children who always strive for success despite facing hardship. He also vowed that the award ceremony will be presented annually in cooperation with local authorities and the private sector. This year's ceremony was the third of its kind. The president also urged the public to be brave enough to dream and to believe that "the dream will come true through hard work." This is exactly the meaning and significance of the Presidential Education Award, he said.
■ Society
Woman had sex with sons
A mother stunned social workers in Kaohsiung City recently by telling them that she had had sex with her two mentally handicapped sons to prevent them from possibly attacking others. The mother, in her fifties, told psychiatrists at the Kaohsiung Municipal Kaihsuan Hospital that after the two sons became teenagers, their emotional states started becoming unstable. Four years ago when her eldest son was 16, she had sex with him for the first time out of fear that his unsatisfied sexual desires could drive him to attack others. Then, her second son requested to have sex with his mother after seeing what happened between her and his older brother. The woman sought the psychiatrist's help after her second son began to injure himself because his mother started turning down his requests for sex.
■ National defense
Singapore seeks warning
Singapore has asked China for two weeks' warning of any invasion of Taiwan so that it can pull out its own soldiers being trained here, it was reported yesterday. Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew made the request amid concern about the delicate relationship between China and Taiwan, a Chinese-language newspaper said in a report from Washington. The paper said Singapore usually had up to 6,000 soldiers -- comprising infantry, artillery, tanks and air force units -- being trained in Taiwan under a military cooperation agreement. It said the evacuation of Singaporean troops would require at least two weeks. Singaporean diplomats in the US would not confirm the report, saying only that "countries have their own contingency plans," the paper said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese