■ Transportation
Military drill delays flights
Six flights were delayed when Kaohsiung International Airport closed its runways for one hour yesterday morning due to a military exercise held in the area from 10am to 11am. The delayed flights included Mandarin Airlines and Uni Air flights arriving from Taipei, Hualien and Makung, as well as a Uni Air flight from Kaohsiung to Taipei. Passengers complained about not being notified in advance that there would be delays due to the military exercise.
■ Cross-strait ties
Injured journalist returns
A Taiwanese journalist who was injured last Thursday in a bus crash in western China returned to Taiwan yesterday for medical treatment. Ho Wen-han (何文翰), a cameraman with ERA Cable TV, was rushed to Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital for emergency treatment after arriving at CKS International Airport aboard a chartered China Airlines plane. Ho was paralyzed after sustaining serious injuries to his neck in the crash in Xinjiang. He was part of a group of reporters from 15 news organizations on both sides of the Taiwan Strait traveling from Fujian to Xinjiang. The group, traveling on nine buses, was on its way to Urumuqi when the accident occurred. Five of the vehicles were involved in the pile-up, which has been blamed on an unmarked road barrier.
■ Academics
New institute inaugurated
The Academia Sinica's Institute of Taiwan History was inaugurated yesterday after 11 years of preparations. Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) said he hopes the new institute will have vision and adopt a comprehensive, circumspect and open-minded approach in researching Taiwan's history. The institute is the Academia Sinica's 22nd research organization. Institute Director Chuang Ying-chang (莊英章) said systematic research into Taiwan's history didn't begin until the 1970s when Academia Sinica launched the "Choshui-Tatu Creek Research Project." "Since the 1980s, research into Taiwan's history has gained steam with the launch of various large research programs and with the participation of new talented people," Chuang said. He said the institute will conduct in-depth studies on five major subjects: Taiwan's socioeconomics, ethnicity, colonial rule, culture and environment.
■ Overseas Chinese
Officials brief NY group
Two senior government officials paid a visit to the Chinese Benevolent Association (CBA) in New York on Monday to brief its board members on Taipei's policy toward China. Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Lin Fang-mei (林芳玫), chairwoman of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs, are among few senior officials to visit traditional Chinese expatriates groups in the New York area since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power in 2000. CBA chairman Chen Yu-chu (陳玉駒) said that his group is concerned about the administration's cross-strait policy goals. Wu told the CBA officials that the administration will continue to promote cross-strait rapprochement. Since President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) second inauguration, Wu said, the government has taken active steps and extended olive branches to Beijing on many occasions with the view to boosting cross-strait ties and moving them in a positive, constructive and peaceful direction.
■ Cross-Strait Ties
Detained newsmen freed
Two journalists from Next magazine have been released from apparent detention in Shanghai and were due to return home, Pei Wei (斐偉), chief editor of the magazine, said yesterday. Reports said that the two journalists lost contact with Taipei when they were in Shanghai on Saturday afternoon, and it was thought that they might have been held by Chinese policemen. Other sources said that one of them had contacted friends via cellphone and indicated that he had been arrested. Pei said that he has no idea why the two might have been held and would have to wait until they return home for an explanation.
■ Defense
Military helps in clean-up
Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) has instructed the military to continue to help with disaster relief work, a spokesman said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Major General Huang Suey-sheng (黃穗生) said the Central Disaster Relief Center was relieved of its duties on Sunday night, but out of concerns that the areas ravaged by flooding and mudslides caused by Tropical Storm Mindulle may still need support, Lee has instructed continued relief efforts. Huang noted that as of yesterday morning, the army had mobilized more than 80,000 military personnel and various equipment for the disaster relief. They have helped disinfect, fix embankments, airlift needed material and housed 1,493 residents from affected areas.
■ Immigration
Orientation help offered
Chiayi County will offer a month-long program for foreign brides to help them better integrate into life in this country. County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) said that there are 8,332 foreign brides in Chiayi and more than half are Chinese -- 4,371. With more children being born to cross-cultural marriages, he said that the situation deserves attention and concern from the government, as these children will be crucial to the nation's development and the nation's competitiveness in the world. The program will last until Aug. 19 and will offer language training, settlement counseling, information on local customs, an introduction to festivals, cooking classes and information on medical care and traffic safety. Chen said he hoped that after being in the program, the foreign brides would be able to obtain driver's licenses without help. He also urged family members of the brides to spend more time talking with them.
■ Diplomacy
Technicians get training
Officials attached to technical missions in countries that have diplomatic relations with this country have returned home to receive organizational skills training, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday. Liu Jung-tsou (劉榮座), director-general of the Economic and Trade Affairs Department said there are 276 technicians in 39 teams serving in 33 countries that either have formal diplomatic relations or are on friendly terms with Taiwan. The teams specialize in the areas of agriculture, fishery, medical services and trade. A total of 28 mission leaders met yesterday with Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) who recognized their achievements and encouraged them to continue their service. Liu said the missions strengthen ties with allies and extend help to other countries.
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