■ Flooding
Contingency plan activated
The Department of Health said yesterday that it has activated a contingency mechanism for medical care in the central and southern parts of the country in the wake of days of torrential rain that caused serious flooding in several areas. Officials said that some residents are still trapped in mountainous or remote areas in central and southern Taiwan and that medical teams provided by local health authorities are on standby. If the trapped residents need emergency hospital care, the department will ask the Ministry of the Interior to organize helicopter airlifts to get them out. To avoid outbreaks of infectious disease in the flood-affected areas, the health department urged the public to pay special attention to dietary and environmental hygiene.
■ Politics
China urges media `sincerity'
China yesterday urged Taiwan to show "sincerity" in cross-strait relations by allowing journalists from the state-run Xinhua news agency and People's Daily back into the country. "We believe that cross-strait media exchanges should develop in a smooth and active manner," Li Weiyi (李維一), spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, told journalists. "If Taiwan wants to show this kind of sincerity, then all they must do is to allow journalists from Xinhua news agency and the People's Daily to return to their reporting duties," Li said. Taiwan in April banned journalists from the two media groups, accusing them of contributing to worsening ties between Taipei and Beijing. Three other Chinese state media organizations have reporters stationed in Taiwan on a monthly rotation basis. China allows five Taiwanese television stations, two newspapers and a news agency to be represented in Beijing, also on a monthly rotation basis.
■ Society
Criminals get spy watches
Sex offenders released on parole will be electronically tagged with a tracking device disguised as a wrist watch to monitor their whereabouts, Ministry of Justice authorities said yesterday. Surveillance equipment will be installed in their residences to further monitor their behavior, ministry officials said. Meanwhile, the officials said, the Ministry of Justice will also tag major financial criminals with specially designed arm or leg bracelets to prevent them from fleeing the country after they are released on parole.
■ Society
Chen lauds policemen
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) expressed his gratitude to the police yesterday, hailing their dedication and performance. At the nation's Police Day celebrated at the National Police Administration, Chen bestowed medals on policemen from around the country and said that improving social order is the government's top priority. Chen claimed that an action plan to improve social order launched on Feb. 1 has already seen solid results, mentioning in particular the capture of suspects who assaulted policemen and an individual who poisoned brand name beverages sold at convenient stores.
■ Society
Rummage sale at TAS
The Taipei American School's (TAS) Orphanage Club will hold its 35th annual summer rummage sale on Saturday to raise money for the various orphanages and charities it helps support. The rummage sale will be held rain or shine from 10am until 5pm at TAS, which is located in Tienmu at 800 Zhongshan N. Rd. More information can be found on the club's Web site (www.come.to/tasoc).
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods