■ Military Affairs
Air force jet explodes
An air force fighter jet skidded off the runway and exploded in Taitung County yesterday, according to officials at the Taitung air force base. The jet's two pilots survived the accident by ejecting before the explosion. The two-seat F5F fighter jet was preparing for takeoff on a routine training mission when engine failure occurred at 7:30am, the officials said. This caused the aircraft to skid off the runway, triggering an explosion in the fuel tank, they said. The fire was extinguished within 10 minutes. The officials said all training programs have been suspended pending a comprehensive investigation into the incident.
■ Health
New rules announced
The Department of Health yesterday announced that clinical studies will now be compulsory for students and practitioners of Chinese medicine. "Although Chinese medicine is an integral part of our healthcare system, we need a rigorous clinical-training program for students and doctors to enhance their diagnostic and treatment skills," said Lin I-hsin (林宜信), chairperson of the department's Committee on Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy. There are 36 hospitals and 2,729 private clinics offering Chinese-medicine services staffed by a total of 4,266 licensed doctors. The department said all students must spend their last year training in hospitals. It will also be mandatory for practitioners to spend at least 30 hours every year on clinical studies. Practitioners who
do not comply will be disqualified from treating patients. "We now have 22 regional hospitals involved in the education program. The Chinese-medicine system is becoming increasingly systematic. We believe that by 2008 Taiwan will be a world model for incorporating alternative medicine into health infrastructure," Lin said.
■ Diplomacy
Panamanian people on side
More than six out of 10 Panamanians hope that their country maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan, according to the results of a poll published on Wednesday by a newspaper in that country. The poll results posted on La Prensa under the title "Taiwan is better than the People's Republic of China" showed that 61 percent of respondents were in favor of maintaining diplomatic ties, while 14.1 percent preferred to switch to Beijing. Another 24.9 percent had no opinion on the matter. The survey, which was commissioned by the paper, was conducted between Jan. 14 and Jan. 16.
■ Diplomacy
Lu sells `Taiwan experience'
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday said she would help Paraguay learn from the "Taiwan experience" in promoting economic development in the South American nation. Lu made the comments during a meeting with visiting Paraguayan Senate Speaker Miguel Carrizosa Galiano. Lu said she was actively promoting town-building projects in Central American countries to facilitate bilateral cooperation in agriculture, aquaculture and energy infrastructure development. Lu said she would encourage Taiwanese businesses to invest in the food and textile industries in Paraguay -- where agricultural products include soybeans, corn and cotton -- to boost employment and the economic output of Taiwan's diplomatic ally. Lu said that the friendship between Taiwan and Paraguay has remained firm over the years and that she hoped both sides would strengthen bilateral cultural and economic exchanges in the future.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition