■ Society
Law trumps feng shui
A Taiwanese man has been sentenced to four months in jail for cutting down more than 40 trees at an apartment complex, claiming they would undermine the feng shui of his nearby house, a newspaper said yesterday. Feng shui is the Chinese practice of geomancy, in which objects and spaces are arranged to supposedly achieve harmony with the environment. The Taipei District Court convicted "feng shui expert" Lo Pu-yi (羅蒲逸) of cutting down the trees in an apartment complex next to his home on a hill in suburban Taipei, the Apple Daily reported. It said Lo's neighbors had accused him of cutting down the banyan and willow trees, as well as bamboo, saying the foliage blocked the flow of air and could undermine his livelihood. A separate court will handle his neighbors' claim for NT$400,000 (US$12,000) in damages, the paper said. Lo could not be reached for comment.
■ Health
CDC announces flight rule
A new regulation is slated to take effect as early as September that will bar people in the infectious phase of tuberculosis from taking flights that are longer than eight hours in duration. "This is a measure to protect the other passengers on the aircraft," Director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said. Infectious tuberculosis patients will be able to fly on flights shorter than eight hours as long as they wear a face mask. Taiwan is taking its cue from WHO standards in determining the eight-hour cut-off point, Kuo said. "If a patient follows the suggestions for treatment of tuberculosis, he or she should only be infectious for two weeks or so," CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ding (林頂) said. "In the meantime, they can still travel provided they adjust their itinerary to take shorter flights," Lin said.
■ Crime
Father dies, riddle remains
Yin Duo (尹鐸), the father of murdered navy captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), died yesterday with his wish of uncovering the truth behind his son's death still unfulfilled. The infamous Yin murder, associated with the Lafayette frigate procurement scandal, remains unsolved after 14 years. Yin is widely believed to have been about to blow the whistle on colleagues who were taking kickbacks from the deal. Since Yin Ching-feng's death in late 1993, Yin Duo has been traveling around the country and collecting information to try and solve the mystery of his son's death, but to no avail. Yin Duo was admitted to Minsheng hospital in Taoyuan last Thursday with a brain hemorrhage. He passed away yesterday, aged 86. Yin Ching-feng's widow, Li Mei-kuei (李美葵), said that her husband died before his son's murder could be solved would remain a lifelong regret for the family.
■ Weather
Cold front approaching
An approaching cold front is expected to send temperatures in most of Taiwan to below 10?C over the next three days starting tomorrow, according to a forecast by the Central Weather Bureau. Meteorologists said that northeastern Taiwan and areas north of Tainan, as well as the outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu, could experience temperatures as low as 7?C between tomorrow and Monday. The mercury is expected to rise slightly from Tuesday but parts of Taiwan could still have early morning temperatures down to 10?C or lower until next Friday. The bureau warned aquaculturists to take preventive measures against cold weather losses.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
MORE RETALIATION: China would adopt a long-term pressure strategy to prevent other countries or future prime ministers following in Sanae Takaichi’s steps, an academic said Taiwan should maintain communications with Japan, as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is to lead a revision of security documents, Taiwanese academics said yesterday. Tensions have risen between Japan and China over remarks by Takaichi earlier this month that the use of force against Taiwan would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) yesterday said Takaichi’s stance regarding Taiwan is the same as past Japanese prime ministers, but her position is clearer than that of her predecessors Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba. Although Japan views a “Taiwan contingency” as a “survival-threatening situation,” which would allow its military to
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