■ SOCIETY
Chess tournament begins
The 2007 World Computer Chinese Chess Championship will begin today at two universities in Tainan, the organizers of the event said yesterday. The three-day competition is being jointly organized by Chang-Jung Christian University, National University of Tainan and the Taiwanese Association for Artificial Intelligence. It will be divided into two sections with 15 teams from the US, France, China and Taiwan competing in Group A using self-developed computer programs, a spokesman said. In Group B, nearly 100 members of the public from Taiwan and China will play against computers. The winners from each section will challenge Taiwan's best Chinese chess player, Wu Kuei-lin (吳貴臨). The event also includes a forum in which academics from Taiwan and Japan are invited to discuss issues concerning computer Chinese chess, the spokesman said.
■ HEALTH
Dengue fever alarm sounded
A 68-year-old woman in Tainan contracted the first case of indigenous dengue hemorrhagic fever this year, the Center of Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a more serious form of the disease that can often prove fatal. The woman fell ill last Wednesday, and was reported as a possible dengue case on the same day, the CDC said. Residents of Tainan and surrounding areas are urged to be vigilant about clearing up puddles of water where the mosquito that spreads the disease can breed, especially given the rainy weather in recent days. "The alarm needs to be sounded for the Tainan area," CDC deputy director Chou Chih-hao (周志浩) said.
■ BUSINESS
TTLC wins 42 quality medals
The Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTLC) announced yesterday that it won 42 quality medals at this year's world quality selections for wine and food products organized by Monde Selection in Barcelona, Spain. The medals brought home by TTLC include the International Quality Trophy, which was awarded to five beer products made by the state-owned company. The company's victory in the world contest is the culmination of its successful improvements to its wine and tobacco products, and will sharpen its competitiveness in international markets, the spokesman said. Monde Selection is an international institute for quality selections founded in 1961 and is the most representative and oldest organization in the field of quality selections worldwide.
■ CRIME
Bogus officials arrested
The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) announced on Thursday that it had arrested two men who disguised themselves as national security officials in an attempt to pressure government agencies to prolong their rights to exploit a mine in Kaohsiung. The two suspects, Chen Hsing-hung (陳信宏) and Chen Kuo-hui (陳國輝), were detained by CIB agents after their true identities were discovered by the National Security Bureau on information provided by Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) officials. The pair admitted to having disguised themselves as security officials and using false name cards during a meeting with the EPA secretary-general, during which they tried to pressure EPA personnel to agree to extend their mining rights. The two men claimed that they are shareholders of a mining company registered in Kaohsiung County, and pressured officials to allow the company to continue operations.
■ CRIME
Man tried for trafficking
A Taiwanese man is set to go on trial in Vietnam this month charged with trafficking Vietnamese women in Malaysia, Vietnamese state media said yesterday. Tsai Hsien, 46, is to go on trial with five Vietnamese, including his wife, in Ho Chi Minh City on July 26, the Vietnam News Agency said. Investigators in Vietnam said they had evidence that the group had arranged fake marriages for more than 100 women, but then forced the women to remarry or work as prostitutes after coming to Malaysia. They said the women were sold for between US$1,500 and US$2,000 each. If found guilty, Tsai faces up to 20 years in jail.
■ PUBLIC SAFETY
EPA to limit chemical use
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) will soon limit the use of nonylphenol chemicals (NPs) in all food stuffs, wax and detergents, setting a ceiling concentration of 0.1 percent, EPA officials said yesterday. The new regulation, which should come into effect in September, was announced amid increasing concerns over the health hazards posed by NPs, they said. Officials revealed that the EPA is also discussing the possibility of declaring NPs and nonylphenol ethoxylates -- compounds made from NPs -- hazardous materials, in the hope that this classification would facilitate further restrictions on the use of NPs. The chemical structure of NPs is very similar to that of estrogen, they noted, and male animals that ingest such chemicals after they are discharged into the environment have proven susceptible to reproductive difficulties, growth retardation and hormonal disruption. The chemicals have also been implicated in a number of human health issues, including infertility and breast cancer. In a survey by National Taiwan University, researchers collected 75 common cleaners and found that 66 percent of them contain NPs or NP-related chemicals.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard