■ TB rate causes concern
A medical researcher noted yesterday that the number of people dying from tuberculosis in Taiwan is 20 times the figure in the US, which he said proved that the quality of the nation's medical services needed to be improved. Wen Chi-pang (溫啟邦), a fellow at the Health Policy Research Division of the National Health Research Institute, made the remarks in his thesis presented at a conference promoting improvements to medical services. Wen said the number of people dying from tuberculosis had decreased in the last 10 years thanks to improvements in medical technology. Taipei City registered the lowest rate in 2002, with Taitung County registering the highest rate, at five times Taipei's level. The rate in mountainous areas was 126 times higher than the US rate.
■ Crime
Hotline for kidnap hoaxes
The education ministry has decided to set up emergency hotlines for parents to report attempts of extortion through hoax kidnappings of students, a radio station reported yesterday. The education ministry issued the order because criminals were making phone calls to students' parents, claiming they had kidnapped their children and would kill them unless the parents paid them off, the Broadcasting Corporation of China said. Some parents had taken the threats seriously and followed the instructions, sending money to the criminals' bank accounts, only to find out later that their children were safe in school. Some schools had established hotlines even before the ministry's order, the report said.
■ Crime
Campaign targets fraud
Heads of law enforcement and prosecuting agencies will meet tomorrow to figure out more effective ways to fight rampant fraud. The meeting was decided upon following an announcement by Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) on Friday that he was declaring an all-out war against gangs conspiring to defraud the community. Top officials from different government departments, including incoming National Police Administration Director-General Hsieh Yin-tang (謝銀黨), will attend the meeting. Increasing numbers of people, including the minister himself, have fallen victim to crimes of fraud, including credit-card fraud and elaborate ATM card scams.
■ Diplomacy
Officials meet EBRD head
A delegation headed by Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂), Taiwan's representative to London, met with Jean Lemierre, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), yesterday to discuss ways of promoting bilateral cooperation. The Taiwan delegation, consisting of financial officials and diplomats, will also attend the 13th annual meeting of the EBRD in London today and tomorrow, including its Board of Governors' meeting, business forum and donors' meeting. Tien said before the meeting that Taiwan shared the EBRD's aim of promoting democracy and the market economy, and that he looked forward to closer cooperation with the EBRD. Founded in 1991 following the collapse of communism in eastern and central Europe, the EBRD has promoted investment as a means of developing market economies and democracies in 27 countries from central Europe to central Asia. Taiwanese officials opened an office with the EBRD in February.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
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