Print

Mail

wiki links

Taiwan Quick Take

■ SOCIETY
TAS club holds flea market
The Taipei American School's (TAS) Orphanage Club will hold a flea market and rummage sale tomorrow from 10am to 3pm in the school's forecourt and lobby -- rain or shine. On sale will be used and new clothing, gift items, toys, handicrafts, greeting cards and household items. Homemade Singaporean food prepared by Singaporean supporters of the club and their Taiwanese friends will also be on sale. The money raised will provide funding for orphans and other children in need in Taiwan and abroad. TAS is located at 800 Zhongshan N Road Sec. 6 in Tianmu (天母).

■ POLITICS
A-bian site marks sixth year
President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) weekly electronic newsletter celebrated its sixth year yesterday and a series of short films featuring the president were posted on Taiwan's YouTube to coincide with the launch of the video sharing Web site yesterday. The A-bian e-newsletter, with weekly updates on Thursday, has published 314 entries since its inauguration on Oct. 18, 2001, and has 123,000 subscribers. To share Chen's private moments with viewers, the Presidential Office posted a series of films never shown before of Chen's public and private life. In the latest update, Chen said he was happy about the nation's ranking in an e-government world survey, with the nation placing No.1 in 2004 and 2005 and No. 2 last year. Taiwan also placed third in the World Economic Forum's digitalized society ranking in 2005 and seventh -- second in Asia after Singapore? -- last year.

■ DISASTER
Fire on Kinmen eases
The National Airborne Service Corps called off a firefighting operation on the outlying island of Kinmen yesterday as the fire had subsided and was kept under control by local firefighters. The fire broke out at around 2pm on Wednesday near the coast at Kuningtou (古寧頭) -- a battlefield in October 1949. Officials have not yet determined the cause of the fire, but some said it might have been caused by farmers burning weeds or a discarded cigarette butt. Military authorities advised firemen not to enter the area as it was seeded with an estimated 1,000 landmines. Kinmen residents said the heat from the fire had set off more than 10 landmines. The Kinmen County Fire Department said late on Wednesday that the fire had destroyed at least 7 hectares of grassland and 3 hectares of woodland. Kinmen Defense Command officers said the minefield affected by the fire was scheduled for demining next year, they said. The fire has underscored the need to speed up the program.

■ TECHNOLOGY
New coating developed
The Metal Industries Research and Development Center has developed a new vacuum coating technology for nano-silver particles that effectively reduces bacteria on a wide range of products. The center started research and development into the new technology in 2003 and after four years came up with a new solution that can equally plate the surface with a hard coating and nano-silver particles, researchers at the center said yesterday. After testing, the nano-silver coating proved effective in reducing the number of bacteria it comes in contact with, giving a 99.99 percent kill rate for escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus -- two common pathogens, they said. The technology can be applied to various products, such as tableware, cookware, bathroom accessories and household appliances, they said.

■ DEFENSE
Ministry disbands center
The Ministry of National Defense disbanded its "Joint Internal Affairs Center" yesterday. The ministry established the center in 2004 at the request of then-minister of national defense Lee Jye (李傑). Lee asked then-director-general of the ministry's Political Warfare Department Chen Pan-chih (陳邦治) to establish the center in light of numerous leaks of classified information. The center was staffed by military police officers, military prosecutors and special agents. However, the center's legal authority has been challenged because it did not belong to any specific military unit.

■ AVIATION
Fuselage crack from flight
A crack in the outer layer of the fuselage of a China Airlines Boeing 737-800 occurred during a flight, rather than upon landing, the Aviation Council said yesterday. The airplane, which departed from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Saga, Japan, on Sept. 20, was found to have a 77cm crack on its underside during a transit check. Yang Hung-chi (楊宏智), director of the council, told a news conference that an initial investigation into the cause of the damage had been conducted by the Chung-shan Institute of Technology and Science under the Ministry of Defense. The investigation found that the outer layer of the fuselage showed signs of having been damaged by air pressure. The council said it also suspected that the damage to the outer layer of the fuselage had been caused in part by a leak in the aircraft's waste water container, but added that further investigation was required for the cause to be determined.


This story has been viewed 1680 times.