■ Tourism
Tourists land on Kinmen
A Chinese tourist group, composed of 25 employees of Xiamen Airlines, arrived on Taiwan's offshore island of Kinmen yesterday for an unprecedented three-day tour. It is the first tourist group to arrive in Kinmen from China since Taiwan implemented the "small three links" at the start of 2001. Led by an official of Xiamen Airlines, the 25 tourists were greeted by Kinmen County Magistrate Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) when they arrived by boat in the morning. Lee expressed the hope that the visit signifies a good beginning and that the procedures for applying for tourist visas will be simplified to facilitate the development of tourism in Kinmen.
■ Literature
Book tells of torture
Chinese Falun Gong practitioner Tseng Cheng (曾錚), 38, yesterday released a book, Still water runs deep, telling of her prosecution by the Chinese government. Tseng, a Peking University graduate and an accomplished financial advisor, started to practice Falun Gong in 1997. She was jailed for a year in 2000. In the jail she was severely beaten and brainwashed, and she witnessed other Falun Gong members being abused, including women getting raped. She pretended to become a non-practitioner to make her life easier. After her release in 2001, she managed to go to Australia and succeeded in getting political asylum. Tseng said that she wanted to write the book to tell the truth about how the Chinese government prosecute Falun Gong practitioners.
■ Health
TB case on Taipei campus
A student at Soochow University's campus in downtown Taipei has tested positive for tuberculosis, a Taipei City health official confirmed yesterday. The official said the health bureau was investigating whether people in close contact with the student had also contracted the disease. Wang Fu-lin (王福林), director of the education ministry's Department of Physical Education, yesterday urged the nation's schools to take all cases of tuberculosis seriously and enforce appropriate precautionary measures. Wang said more than 8,000 cases of tuberculosis were reported in Taiwan in 2002. The statistics for last year are still not available.
■ Courts
Prison beckons porn `star'
Would-be celebrity porn star A-hsian (阿賢) faces a stretch in jail because he cannot pay a fine of NT$165,000 for starring in the erotic epic Taiwan Plumber (瑄瑄日記). A-hsian received a five-month sentence for the offense, which could have been replaced by the fine, but so far, he has only managed to borrow NT$60,000 from friends. The Kaohsiung native moved to Taipei in search of stardom, appearing occasionally in TV shows and posing nude in a photo album, which did not sell well. A-hsian has also sold his clothes online in order to cover his expenses.
■ Diplomacy
Tribute for Dominican PM
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent condolences to Dominica over the death of Prime Minister Pierre Charles, spokesman Richard Shih (石瑞琦) said yesterday. Charles, who had a history of heart problems, collapsed and died of a heart attack on Tuesday. He was 49. Shih said Charles was a good friend of Premier Yu Shyi-kun. Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) also sent condolences to the Dominican government and Charles' family.
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