■ Diplomacy
Kiribati leader in Taipei
Kiribati President Anote Tong began began his first trip to Taiwan yesterday since the two nations established formal diplomatic relations last November. During his five-day visit, Tong will discuss fishery and agricultural cooperation, officials said, and he will meet President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) today. After Kiribati established formal ties with Taipei, Beijing promptly cut relations with Kiribati and dismantled its satellite tracking station on the country's main island. Tong has said his government recognized Taiwan because the Taiwanese could better help his country develop its economy. Located on the equator, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, Kiribati is heavily dependent on revenue from fishing licenses.
■ Labor
Vietnamese top runaways
More than 11,000 foreign laborers had absconded from their jobs as of the end of last year, with Vietnamese forming the bulk of runaway alien workers, the National Police Administration reported yesterday. According to the agency's statistics, the number of foreign workers abandoning their jobs stood at 11,125 at the end of last year. Among them, 3,983 were from Vietnam and 3,706 were from Indonesia. By gender, officials said, Indonesian women were the most likely to run away, with 3,303 remaining unaccounted for at the end of last year; followed by Vietnamese women at 2,819 and Philippine women at 1,721. Among male workers, Thais formed the largest national group of workers fleeing their jobs with 1,246, followed by Vietnamese at 1,164.
■ Education
Yu OKs funding measures
In a bid to allow universities to receive more funding from the National Science Council, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday approved a measure proposed by the council to increase its subsidy rate for study project fees to universities from the current 8 percent to 15 percent in three years. The Cabinet had originally set the goal at seven years. Yu also approved a measure proposed by the Ministry of Education to liberate public universities' hiring and accounting systems in a bid to improve their competitive edge. Public universities can not only use the funds they raise themselves to pay teachers' salaries but also offer more to teachers who offer their expertise to the industrial sector.
■ Health
Vets sent to poultry markets
Veterinarians have been posted at the country's three major poultry wholesale markets as part of government efforts to prevent the spread of bird flu, sources from the Council of Agriculture said yesterday. The council has contracted 300 vets to work at the three markets in Taipei City, Taichung City and Fengshan City, next to Kaohsiung. The vets, who will be rotated between the three markets, will examine live birds between 10pm and 11am each day to make sure that the birds are safe for consumption, a council official said. He said the council's animal health inspection offices around the country were also inspecting poultry farms nationwide on a regular basis. Because of the threat posed by bird flu, a number of poultry farms in the center and south have destroyed 100,000 chickens and ducks since early last month.
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