■ Politics
Reform bill passes reading
The long-discussed Cabinet downsizing will come into force Jan. 1, next year, in line with a package of amendments to the existing law governing the Executive Yuan's structure that passed the first reading in the legislature on Thursday. After lengthy discussions, the legislature's legal, interior and budget committees finally completed the first reading of the Executive Yuan Organic Law (行政院組織法) revision bill at a joint meeting on Thursday evening, but certain provisions are still pending further cross-party consultations. According to the tentatively approved bill, the number of the Executive Yuan units will be cut from the current 36 to either 20 or 21. At the moment, Executive Yuan subordinate agencies are either named ministries, commissions or councils. In the future, there will be only ministries and commissions.
■ Military
Chinese hack attack foiled
The Ministry of National Defense categorically denied a media report yesterday that a Chinese "cyber army" had recently successfully hacked into the computer network of a warfare nerve center. Ministry spokesman Liu Chih-chian (劉志堅) said in a regular press briefing that Chinese hackers had tried to intrude into the computer system of the Hengshan Command located near Taipei City via a peripheral ministry unit. However, the attempt was blocked in time on a firewall node by information technology officers on duty, Liu said, adding that no military intelligence was stolen or tampered with. Liu said the ministry regrets that the media made such a sensational report without checking their source, adding that it has launched a protest against this kind of media practice. Meanwhile, Liu said the military maintained one of the most secure computer systems in the world.
■ Society
Fundraising to help Lee
A group of Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers announced yesterday that they will launch a NT$10-per-person fundraising drive in support of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who has been told by the court to pay NT$10 million (US$300,000) in compensation for defaming People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜). Ho Min-hao (何敏豪) said the caucus decided to start the campaign because a lot of the party's supporters have expressed their desire to donate money to support Lee. The Taipei District Court ruled on Wednesday that Lee should compensate Soong financially and publish an apology on the front pages of nine Chinese-language newspapers for three consecutive days for defamatory remarks he made last year. Lee insinuated that Soong was playing mahjong when supporters of the opposition "pan-blue alliance" were holding a demonstration in front of the Presidential Office to protest last year's presidential election.
■ Transportation
Bus Web site offers English
The Taipei City Transportation Department is introducing a trial English version of its online bus route search system today. According to the department, the search system, which previously only had a Chinese version, includes information such as bus routes, schedules and bus stop locations. The department said it welcomed feedback from the public on the new service. The original Web site currently has an average of 20,000 hits per day. In order to provide a better and more professional service, the department will set up a brand new Web site which will integrate information from both the Chinese and English language versions. The trial version can be accessed at www.taipeibus.taipei.gov.tw.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching