■ Health
Mini-cups to have warnings
The government has ordered makers of mini-cup jelly candies to put warning labels on their products after a Taiwanese girl choked to death on the snack in China earlier this year, officials said yesterday. All jelly candies with a diameter of less than 3.1cm, the so-called mini-cup jelly, are required to carry labels warning of a choking hazard from next year, the Department of Health said. Manufacturers should also warn parents not to feed mini-cup jelly to children under five years old, the department said. Violators could faces fines of up to NT$1.5 million (US$47,000) while their products will be recalled or destroyed, it said. The department ordered the recall of all mini-cup jelly candies in March after a Taiwanese businessman living in Shanghai complained to Taipei authorities that his 19-month-old daughter choked after eating the snack. Accidents involving children choking on mini-cup jellies have also been reported in the US and South Korea.
■ Politics
Wang tenders resignation
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday tendered his resignation to KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰). Wang told reporters that a precedent had been set with the resignation of a vice chairman following the election of a new chairman. KMT chairman-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he hoped to reappoint Wang as a party vice chairman. Wang and his family will leave for the US today on a private visit.
■ Tourism
Working-holiday spots open
The Ministry of Education said there are still spaces available for young people who are interested in obtaining a working-holiday visa for either New Zealand or Australia. Taiwanese have been eligible for both countries' working-holiday visas since last year. The visas allow young people to stay in the country for 12 months and work for up to three months to supplement their travel funds. Applicants must be aged between 18 and 30, have a return ticket and a bank statement proving they have at least NT$100,000 in funds, ministry officials said. There are 600 openings for Taiwanese this year under New Zealand's program and there have been more than 300 applications so far. Officials said 230 people have applied for a working-holiday visa for Australia since last November. People interested in the programs can contact the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office at (02) 2757-6411 or the Australian Commerce and Industry Office at (02)8725-4250.
■ Exhibitions
Chinese food fair nears
The 2005 Taipei Chinese Food Festival will open next Thursday at the exhibition hall of the Taipei World Trade Center, offering opportunities for visitors to taste a wide range of gourmet dishes from different countries. The annual festival, one of the most important events for the nation's catering sector since its inception 16 years ago, is expected to draw a crowd of some 160,000 during the four-day exhibition, according to its sponsor, the Taiwan Visitors Association. This year's event will feature demonstrations of culinary skills, lessons by famous cooks and a "street of gourmet food stores." Master chefs and their assistants from the US, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan will compete for the title of "culinary god." The exhibition hall will have 10 theme areas, such as vanilla and health and Taiwan rice. Tickets are NT$250 per person.
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