■ Internet
China source of most spam
As much as 60 percent of the spam flowing into Taiwan is from Asia, with China taking the largest share with 25 percent, according to an analysis recently conducted by Openfind Information Technology Inc, a local company that provides mail protection systems. Paraguay and Uruguay are the second-largest sources, which together sent out 17.8 percent of the junk e-mail arriving in Taiwan, followed by the US with 8 percent, and India and South Korea each with more than 5 percent, Openfind researchers said, adding that Taiwan is also one of the major sources, generating 16.5 percent. Junk mail has been growing at an alarming rate in recent years, and has accounted for 90 percent of the total number of e-mails sent since the beginning of this year compared to last year's level of 50 percent for the same period, the researchers pointed out.
■ Legislature
Talks on NCC bill continue
A cross-party meeting held yesterday to discuss the organic bill of the national communications commission (NCC) failed to reach a concrete conclusion, leaving lawmakers across party lines to continue talks today. According to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who chaired yesterday's meeting which lasted two hours, caucus leaders discussed articles two to six of the bill, including article four that stipulates the composition of the commission. Although lawmakers failed to come to any concrete conclusion, Wang said all caucuses agreed to adopt the spirit of proportional appropriation and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) conceded to let committee members elect a chairman and vice chairman from their ranks. Wang said that he hoped to settle the matter via inter-party negotiations rather than putting it to a vote. Wang also warned that any caucus intending to engage in violence or disruptions on the legislative floor had to expect the most severe condemnation.
■ Environment
EPA vows to cut air pollution
Chang Kuo-lung (張國龍), head of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), said his administration is determined to cut air pollution in metropolitan areas around the country by half in three years. Noting that air pollution has resulted in one in three children in Taiwan suffering from asthma or some other forms of respiratory illness, Chang said he knows of no other country with such a high ratio of asthma patients. Pointing out that air pollution is mainly caused by automobile emissions, Chang blamed the high level of pollution on low gasoline prices. Chang said the EPA has mapped out several strategies to reduce emissions, including introducing liquefied gas to replace gasoline. Chang added the effects of pollution have been clearly visible in Taiwan since at least 1982 when cancer was listed as the No. 1 killer.
■ Health
Hospital adds translation
The Taipei City Hospital has formed a new section to offer language translation services to new immigrants, specifically local people's Vietnamese and Indonesian spouses, to help them communicate with physicians and health care personnel. Any immigrant who needs a translator when going to see a doctor can first make a request by calling 02-2192-6068, extension 2813, officials of the Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday. The hospital is equipped with volunteer Vietnamese and Indonesian translators to offer the service, they noted.
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