■ Health
Obese patient in coma
Lu Tsung-hsien (呂宗憲) -- a 26-year-old man who weighs almost 300kg -- was moved to an intensive care unit of the Hsinchu Mackay Memorial Hospital after lapsing into a coma yesterday morning, Chinese-language media reported yesterday. He was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after a group of 20 firemen worked for almost an hour to get him out of his fifth-floor Hsinchu apartment. Lu fell ill two weeks ago but was unable to see a doctor, because he was too big to fit through his front door. A Mackay doctor said Lu suffers from cardiomegaly, an abnormal enlargement of the heart and had become comatose due to an accumulation of carbon monoxide in his body. The doctor said Lu is not in critical condition.
■ Trade
Panama hails agreement
Panama's Trade and Industry Minister Jaime Jacome yesterday hailed a free-trade treaty signed last week with Taiwan and predicted it would open Asia to Panamanian products. Jacome, who traveled last week to Taipei for the signing of the treaty, said that Taiwanese firms currently have investments in Panama's Colon tax-free zone of more than US$600 million, and that the free-trade agreement could bring greater investment. The treaty removes 95 percent of trade tariffs between the two countries within 10 years. The trade balance between Panama and Taiwan is more than US$23 million, and Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso said that trade opportunities would blossom under the free-trade accord. Panamanian Foreign Minister Harmodio Arias also lauded the accord and said that in recent years Taiwan had contributed US$240 million to the Central American Economic Integration Bank.
■ Travel
Backpackers to get new visa
Backpackers from Taiwan, France and Italy yesterday joined those from 14 other nations allowed to work while they are on holiday in Australia. In the 12 months to June this year, 88,758 working holiday-maker visas were issued, an increase of 4 percent on the previous financial year. To qualify for working tourist visas, visitors must be under the age of 26. They are permitted to stay for 12 months, earning money as they go. A condition is they must have A$4,000 (US$2,600) when they arrive and a ticket home. They are supposed to shift jobs at least every three months.
■ Awards
Volunteers to be recognized
The 2003 Prudential Spirit of Community Award is accepting applications from Monday to Oct. 31. The award aims to recognize high school students who are devoted to volunteerism. Those who have participated in volunteering since last November continuously or enthusiastically can apply. Applicants should be students 12 to 18 years old. The award started in Taiwan in 2001, and has accepted more than 5,000 applications in total. The Prudential Financial has also sponsored a Web site (www.soc.org.tw) focusing on volunteering information. The site is maintained by the award's past winners. There is information on where to find volunteer positions, and young volunteers from different parts of the country can share their experiences by writing a weekly diary or posting their thoughts on the bulletin board. Details on the award and application can be obtained by dialing 02-87126639.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
The bodies of two individuals were recovered and three additional bodies were discovered on the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) in Taroko National Park, eight days after the devastating earthquake in Hualien County, search-and-rescue personnel said. The rescuers reported that they retrieved the bodies of a man and a girl, suspected to be the father and daughter from the Yu (游) family, 500m from the entrance of the trail on Wednesday. The rescue team added that despite the discovery of the two bodies on Friday last week, they had been unable to retrieve them until Wednesday due to the heavy equipment needed to lift