■ Government
Embattled official returns
Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂), former minister of foreign affairs who recently submitted a letter of resignation from his current post as representative to the UK, was expected to arrive in Taiwan last night in order to facilitate a police investigation into the controversial sale of French Lafayette-class frigates to Taiwan in the 1990s. While Tien has offered his resignation over the disputed issuance of a passport and legal documents to the wife of fugitive murder suspect in the case, Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) said yesterday that the ministry would deal with Tien's resignation after an investigation casts more light on the situation.
■ Crime
Money launderers wanted
Police said yesterday they had identified two people suspected of having laundered a total of US$36,000 in fake US bills into more than NT$1.2 million from two local banks in the past week. The two suspects, identified as Chen Chih-lung (陳志隆) and Wang Hui-chen (王惠貞), were accused of laundering US$18,000 in counterfeit greenbacks each at Hsinchu Commercial Bank and Chiao Tung Bank branches in Taoyuan on July 19. Police identified the duo after scrutinizing security videotapes provided by the two banks. In addition to stepping up a search for the duo, police said they are also investigating the where-abouts of other accomplices. "We believe that there is a criminal ring involved in the fake greenback laundering operations," said an officer with the Taoyuan County Police Bureau.
■ Diplomacy
Envoy to Malaysia weighs in
Taiwan's long and close relationship with Malaysia should not be slandered, obstructed or interfered with, Taiwan's envoy to Malaysia said Saturday. Wu Wen-yea (吳文雅) made the remarks while responding to a question from the media at a gathering held by an organization of people who have studied in Taiwan. Asked to express her views on a Malaysian government decision to restrict visits by its ministers to Taiwan, Wu said that Malaysia's foreign policy and its policy toward China should be respected. She added that Taiwan has never expressed opinions about these policies. Wu said it is difficult for her to understand the Malaysian government's decision to prohibit its ministers from visiting Taiwan since the existing economic and trade exchanges are vital and require both sides to hold high-level consultations for further development.
■ Society
Say hello to Mr. University
Taiwan student Hu Yi-cheng (胡奕晟) won the title of the 2004 Mr. University in a contest held in Seoul Saturday. Hu, a Chinese Medicine major from Taiwan's Chang Gung University, outperformed rivals from 14 other countries to grab the title in the men's division of the 26th International Mr. & Miss University Beauty Pageant, which took place July 17 through July 24. Hu was awarded a crystal trophy by the dean of South Korea's Sun Moon University, a co-sponsor of the pageant. "Judges look not only for physical beauty but also for the integrity and character of the individuals, " the dean said. Meanwhile, Chu Pei-ying (朱佩瑩), a student from the Taipei Municipal Teachers College, won second place in the women's division, while Kenyan student Robai Musilivi Khamasi came in first.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching