■ Health
Midwifery clinic closed
Taipei County health authorities yesterday shut down a midwifery clinic in Sinjhuang (新莊) for six months over the death of a baby. The owner of the Yung Hsin Midwifery Clinic, Tsai Sha-ning (蔡紗寧), will be charged with "professional negligence leading to death," Bureau of Health officials said. They said a baby boy, born at 4:45am on Sept. 8 began to turn pale 15 minutes after birth. The clinic staff "monitored" the baby until 6:50am, by which time his skin had turned cold and secretions were flowing from his nose and mouth. The staff attempted first aid before sending the baby to Taipei Hospital at 7:16am, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Officials said the staff did not contact a doctor or properly record the baby's vital signs in the two hours that they were "monitoring" him.
■ Health
Tainted fish found
The Fisheries Administration said yesterday that it had found traces of a cancer-linked chemical in fish from fish farms in two southern counties, two weeks after an investigation at a Hong Kong supermarket turned up the substance in fish imported from Taiwan. The chemical, malachite green, is used to treat fungal infections in fish. Fisheries Administration Director Hsieh Ta-wen (謝大文) said tests at Taipei markets of green grouper fish from farms in Tainan and Pingtung counties turned up traces of the chemical. He said malachite green was found in one sample out of the 36 samples investigated, and residues of the chemical in 14 other samples. The residues might have been the result of contamination from other sources, Hsieh said, echoing the official response to the earlier report from Hong Kong.
■ Politics
Ho drops committee seat
Indicted Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ho Chih-hui (何智輝) yesterday said he will not remain on the legislature's Judicial Committee this session to prevent the appearance of a conflict of interest. Ho said that although he had discussed his decision with KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Wednesday night, the decision was voluntary and had nothing to do with Ma. The Taipei mayor had expressed opposition to Ho's initial plan to stay on the committee. Ho was one of the committee's three convenors during the last legislative session. KMT caucus whip Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) has called on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers encountering similar situations to follow suit, but he didn't name names. Meanwhile, the KMT caucus confirmed yesterday that former People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) had joined its caucus operations as an independent lawmaker.
■ Society
Greater tolerance urged
Civic groups gathered yesterday to discuss problems often found in single-parent families and families of convicted criminals. The conference was sponsored by the Red Heart Association, an organization committed to helping broken families. The association called for greater acceptance by society of these families. According to the association's figures, most of these families face economic problems as well as societal pressure. A survey of single-parent children showed that most respondents yearned for a happy and stable family and social acceptance. Society must care for, help and accept these families, the association said.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all