■ Security
Pipe bomb strikes toilet
A pipe bomb exploded in a portable toilet 300m from the presidential office last night, causing police to go on heightened alert. The bomb went off around 7pm, leaving a 20cm hole in the wall. Passers-by saw smoke and informed police, who sealed off the area. Blackened rice grains were found at the site. Police were also examining a suspicious package left in a mailbox near the Chiehshou police station. National Police Administration criminal investigation commissioner Hou You-yi (侯友宜) confirmed that a bomb had gone off. He speculated that the bomb was left by "rice bombers," an underground group protesting WTO regulations on rice.
■ Propaganda
China's netizens in a dither
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will get burnt in
the process of trying to seek independence for
Taiwan, according to the results of an online poll in China. About 95 percent of people who participated in the poll on the Web site of the official Xinhua news agency thought Chen would "cling obstinately to his course, vainly attempt to separate Taiwan from China and get burnt by playing with fire." Just 5.4 percent said Chen would "wake up and stop the horse at the cliff's edge, ceasing `Taiwan independence' splittist activities and promoting
the development of cross-strait ties," the poll said.
Xinhua did not say how many people participated in the poll.
■ Society
Chen calls on handicapped
Following his inauguration, President Chen Shui-bian visited mentally and physically challenged children and adults yesterday at the Aichi Development Center in Banchiao, Taipei County, and helped them make dumplings. Wearing aprons, caps, facemasks and gloves, Chen and incoming Presidential Office Secretary General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) wrapped dumplings for 15 minutes, asking the children sitting around them for help and providing encouragement. The center, which is affiliated with the First Social Welfare Foundation, makes and sells dumplings for NT$2.5 each to employ its adult clients. Center representatives said the point of the exercise
was not so much making money from the dumplings,
but providing a sense of independence to its clients. After making the dumplings, Chen and Su joined the youngsters for an impromptu music lesson.
■ Diplomacy
China rails over health bid
China yesterday ruled out allowing Taiwan to join the World Health Organization (WHO), only hours after President Chen Shui-bian used his inauguration speech to say he would continue to push for membership in the world body. "The WHO is a specialized United Nations agency limited to sovereign states. As part of the People's Republic of China, Taiwan can't join the WHO in any form," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (劉建超) told a regular briefing. "China's justified position has been widely accepted and recognized
by the world. It can't be realized," he said. In yesterday's briefing, Liu declined to comment on specific details of Chen's inauguration address,
merely urging the
US not to encourage
Taiwan to move towards independence.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai