The Department of Health official who acquired samples of Burkholderia pseudomallei -- a bacterium which can be used as a biochemical weapon -- from a public hospital for use in her own research without obtaining official permission will be dealt with soon, Minister Hou Sheng-mou (
Answering questions at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Health, Environment and Social Welfare Committee, Hou said that the department would take appropriate disciplinary action against Su Hsun-pi (
Hou said that although the bacterium is an important cause of acute fulminant pneumonia and septicaemia in tropical regions and could be used by terrorists as a biochemical weapon, the bacterium's isolates are not spread person-to-person.
Hou made the remarks in response to criticism leveled against the department by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆), who accused the department of negligence for failing to discipline Su -- the younger sister of Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) -- four months after the incident was exposed by media.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyi-bao (賴士葆) lashed out at Su for creating a "hole" in Taiwan's disease prevention network by rashly acquiring the strains from a hospital for her own research without following standard control procedures.
"How could the department think of joining the WHO should news of this incident be reported abroad?" he asked.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
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