■ DIPLOMACY
Chen stops not yet decided
Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said yesterday that the US had not yet responded to the issue of the arrangements for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) stopovers in the US during his visit to Central American allies that will begin on Aug. 20. Huang said that most of the press coverage about Chen's stopovers was speculation as the president's itinerary was still under review. The government will try its best to coordinate with the US on the issue, Huang said. Meanwhile, the ministry held a swearing-in ceremony for four diplomats. Representative to Thailand Roy Wu (烏元彥), Representative to Peru Huang Lien-sheng (黃聯昇), Representative to Papua New Guinea Chen Shan-lin (陳杉林) and Representative to South Africa Tu Sheng-kuan (杜聖觀) took their oath of office and will soon assume their new positions.
■ DEFENSE
English camp held
More than 230 National Defense University students participated in an English camp at Fuhsingkang campus in Taipei yesterday, as part of the military's efforts to upgrade its officers' English comprehension ability. The university organized the five-day English camp, hiring nine foreign-certified English teachers to instruct the students on making English a part of their daily lives. Fuhsingkang campus director Major General Wang Ming-wo (王明我) encouraged the students to take advantage of the camp to learn to express themselves in English. Communication is very important, especially to a military officer, he said, adding that it is a tool that an officer can use to explore the world.
■ HEALTH
Pap smear screening low
More than 40 percent of Taiwanese women do not undergo a pap smear test at least once a year, even though free cervical cancer screening has been offered by the government since 1995, a doctor at National Cheng Kung University Hospital said yesterday. Cheng Ya-ming (鄭雅敏), a doctor in the hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said that about 500,000 women around the world die from cervical cancer every year. This type of cancer also poses as a major health threat to Taiwanese women, with the number of new cases per year reaching 6,000. With some 1,000 Taiwanese dying from cervical cancer each year, it has become the leading cause of death among women in the country. He said women aged 30 to 50 form the bulk of those undergoing annual screening, with few women who have reached menopause requesting such tests.
■ HEALTH
Stores to help with first aid
Taipei health authorities are working on a plan to make the city's 2,000 convenience stores part of its first aid network, officials with the city's Department of Health said yesterday. They said the plan will see convenience store employees offered the opportunity to go on training programs so that they can be issued with first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification. They said that with appropriate training, these stores can supplement the emergency medical services provided by hospital emergency rooms and the city's Fire Department. Kao Wei-chun (高偉君), section chief in charge of medical services administration, said the government hoped the employees of at least 70 percent of the 2,000 convenience stores could have their employees qualified in CPR and first aid before the end of this year.
■ CRIME
Thai arrested at airport
A Thai woman was arrested on Sunday at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for trying to leave on a bogus passport, National Immigration Agency officers said yesterday. The 45-year-old woman, identified as Parawee Vichaivong, admitted that she obtained the false passport for NT$30,000 from a human-trafficking group. The woman was detained while preparing to board a flight to Bangkok. Vichaivong entered the country last year and began working in a massage parlor.
■ LAW
Illustrator sues phone seller
A popular illustrator and author who uses the pen-name Jimmy has sued an online Chinese mobile phone seller for infringing upon his copyright, a Chinese court news Web site reported yesterday. The case is being handled by the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing, according to www.chinacourt.org which is sponsored by the Supreme People's Court of China. In his petition filed with the court, Jimmy accused the seller, which operates through the Web site www.18900.com, of allowing its customers to download his illustrations as mobile phone themes without his authorization, the report said. They include illustrations from some of his popular illustrated books, such as Turn Left Turn Right, Moon Forget, Sound of Colors and Missing My Cat, the report said. In addition to requiring the seller to stop the unauthorized download service, Jimmy is demanding that the seller pay him 300,000 Chinese yuan (US$39,651) in compensation, post an apology statement on its Web site and pay for his lawyer fees and travel costs.
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