■ POLITICS
Assets petition reaches goal
The Central Election Commission confirmed yesterday that the number of signatures on a petition for a referendum on divesting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of its stolen assets has reached the threshold of 840,000. The referendum petition was initiated by Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Yu Shyi-kun. The Referendum Law (公民投票法) stipulates that the number of petitioners for a referendum must reach 5 percent of the total number of voters in the previous presidential election. Commission Secretary-General Teng Tien-yu (鄧天佑) said that, according to the law, the referendum must be held between one and six months after the petition was passed. The actual referendum date is to be decided by a commission meeting to be held in the next few days, Teng said.
■ CULTURE
Monuments commemorated
This year's national commemoration weekend for historic monuments, which falls on Sept. 15 and Sept. 16, will include a series of activities to increase public awareness of the need to preserve historic sites. Council for Cultural Affairs officials said yesterday that the third weekend of September each year marks the celebration, which began in 2001 and was modeled after France's International Heritage Day declared in 1984. Entry to the nation's historic sites, art galleries and cultural museums will be free during the two-day celebration, officials said. The provisional office of the National Center for Research and Preservation of Cultural Properties will hold an opening ceremony to mark the beginning of the activities in front of the Confucius Temple in Tainan on Sept. 15.
■ DIPLOMACY
Paraguay president to visit
President Nicanor Duarte Frutos of Paraguay, the nation's only diplomatic ally in South America, will depart for an official visit to Taipei on Oct. 5, Paraguay's La Nacion newspaper reported on Wednesday. According to the report, Duarte made the comment while presiding over an inauguration ceremony for 40 public housing units donated by Taiwan to his nation in its capital city of Asuncion. Duarte was quoted as having said that he would return home with more funds to build public housing units for low-income Paraguayans and that Taiwan had donated funds to Paraguay because "it knows for certain that the funds will alleviate the poverty and plight of thousands of Paraguayans and give them hope." Duarte said he would celebrate his birthday in Taiwan on Oct. 11. The upcoming visit will be his final visit to Taiwan during his presidential tenure, the report said.
■ SOCIETY
Stray dogs star at event
The Animal Protection Association is hosting a two-day event this weekend to encourage the public to adopt stray dogs rather than buying dogs at shops. Those who have taken in stray dogs will be able to register their pets free of charge and get them free vaccinations, including for rabies, if they pre-register on the association's Web site. Almost 200 people have already signed up, Huang Ching-jung (黃慶榮), secretary-general of the association, told a press conference yesterday. For those who are looking for a dog, the association will be bringing to the event some of the almost 600 dogs in its care, which are in need of families. The event will be held by Taipei City Hall.
■ HEALTH
EPA to help dengue fight
Environmental Protection Administration Minister Winston Dang (陳重信) said yesterday that his agency will set aside NT$7.5 million (US$226,300) to help Tainan City curb a dengue fever outbreak. Dang toured the city yesterday to see first hand the seriousness of the outbreak. He said the agency would review the results of the efforts to control the outbreak before deciding whether more aid will be necessary. Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) sacked the city's top health official, Su Chun-jen (蘇俊仁), late last month for failing to bring the mosquito-borne disease under control. The first indigenous dengue fever case this year appeared in the city's Annan District in June. Since then, the city has recorded 299 confirmed indigenous cases.
■ DIPLOMACY
St. Lucian ties stable: MOFA
Taiwan and St. Lucia enjoy stable relations that will not be affected by the illness of St. Lucian Prime Minister John Compton, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman David Wang (王建業) said yesterday. He confirmed a news report that Compton was receiving treatment on the Caribbean island of Martinique for breathing difficulties. He said Taiwan's embassy in St. Lucia has reported on Compton's health condition to the ministry and that Ambassador Tom Chou (周台竹), who recently assumed his post, has passed his good wishes to Compton. Wang said the ministry would monitor the political climate of St. Lucia, but that new elections were not anticipated. The embassy has frequent interaction with various social circles in the Caribbean country and all cooperation projects are being carried out as scheduled, which means the two sides enjoy a stable friendship, Wang said.
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
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
HOSPITALITY HIT: Hotels in Hualien have an occupancy rate of 10 percent, down from 30 percent before the earthquake, a Tourism Administration official said The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled a stimulus package of vouchers and subsidies to revive tourism in Hualien County following a quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. The tremor on April 3, which killed at least 17 people and left two others missing, caused the county an estimated NT$3 billion (US$92.7 million) in damages. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is to issue vouchers worth NT$200 at the price of NT$100 for purchases at the Dongdamen Night Market (東大門夜市) in Hualien City to boost spending, a ministry official told a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in Taipei. The ministry plans to issue 18,400