A medical team dispatched by Taiwan to Indonesia in the aftermath of the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster has decided to pull out because of Jakarta's failure to guarantee the safety of the team members, sources said yesterday.
While most of the team members have been ordered by Taipei to leave Indonesia, a few will stay until 1.5 tonnes of medical supplies arrive and handed over to the Taiwan-based Tzu Chi Buddhist Compassionate Relief Foundation charity group in Indonesia, the sources said.
The date of the pullout will be known today at the earliest after the team contacts the foundation, they said.
Although Taiwan is most willing to provide Indonesia with medical services and help with the prevention of outbreaks of infectious diseases, Taipei has made the decision to bring its people out as the Indonesian government cannot assure the physical safety of Taiwan medical workers posted in Aceh Province -- the worst-hit area -- and cannot offer them protection from attack by rebels, they said.
According to some team members, the Tzu Chi Foundation is currently the only organization with the ability to coordinate with the Indonesian military to transport relief supplies to the disaster areas in Aceh.
Experts from Taiwan's Center for Disease Control said diseases such as typhoid, dysentery, cholera, malaria and dengue fever could break out at any time in light of the bad sanitary conditions in Aceh after the disaster.
More than 90,000 people in Indonesia, mostly in Aceh, have been confirmed killed by the tsunami that were triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra Dec. 26.
The Taiwan medical team arrived in Indonesia last Thursday.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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