Taiwan Quick Take

■ SARS
Hospital workers indicted
Taipei Prosecutor Chen Ta-wei (陳大偉) indicted former Jen Chi Hospital superintendent Liao Cheng-hsiung (廖正雄) and chief physician Lin Jiunn-yan (林俊彥) yesterday for concealing the SARS outbreak at the hospital at the end of April. Chen's indictment also suggested a 42-month sentence for Liao and a 30-month sentence for Lin. After his investigation, Chen said that both Liao and Lin should be blamed for their negligence during the outbreak when a SARS patient, who was only identified by her surname Lee, came to the hospital for medical treatment on April 17. The hospital was not on alert for potential SARS patients and let Lee stay in a normal room along with other patients, which speeded up the outbreak. Chen said, given that the outbreak at the hospital resulted in the death of a nurse and six patients, Liao and Lin should take responsibly as leaders of the hospital.

■ SARS
City says condition `green'
The Taipei City Government's Bureau of Health announced yesterday that the city would not take any further SARS-prevention measures at this point in time, including taking temperatures or wearing a mask in the hospitals or in public places. Chang Shang-chwen (張上淳), convener of the bureau's SARS prevention committee, told a press conference that the bureau classified the current condition as "green light," which means there are only sporadic cases found in other countries. If a case of infection enters Taiwan, then the warning signal will turn yellow, and the bureau will ask people to take the preventative measures, Chang said. "If there is a collective infection, the signal will turn red and all epidemic controls will go into effect, he said.

■ Politics
Yu pushes referendum
Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday that the Executive Yuan's continued push for a referendum is "inevitable" and he urged the legislature to complete referendum legislation as soon as possible in the current session. Yu noted during an Executive Yuan floor meeting that a referendum committee under the Cabinet convened its first meeting Sept. 4 as part of the initiative to promote the implementation of referendum. He urged the legislature to "heed the voice of the people and complete referendum legislation" and to work with the Cabinet to push for a historically significant referendum on or before the presidential election next March.

■ Diplomacy
Delegation to push UN bid
A delegation of more than 170 ministers and parishioners will travel to the US to appeal for UN membership under the name of Taiwan, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan announced yesterday. The delegation will also visit Washington to meet with Taiwanese diplomats and members of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), a pro-independence group. To promote Taiwan's Aboriginal peoples, the delegation will take part in a festival of immigrants in New York. Officials said the delegation includes 62 Aborigines, who will don traditional costumes and display Aboriginal clothes in the festival to highlight that "Taiwan is not part of China." The highlight of the trip will be the mobilization of around 5,000 overseas Taiwanese next Tuesday when the UN General Assembly meeting opens in New York. This group will first travel to the PRC consular office to lodge a protest before making an appeal for UN membership in Hammarskjold Square in front of the UN headquarters.