■ SOCIETY
California hotline set up
Taiwan's government has set up a special hotline at 002-1-213-446-5008 for people in need of information on friends and relatives caught up in the wildfires blown by fierce winds that have forced hundreds of thousands of people in southern California to flee, Phoebe Yeh (葉非比), acting deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The ministry's staffers in the US have visited Taiwanese affected by the fires at a resource center in San Diego and they all remain safe, Yeh said. Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) has sent a message to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to express the support and best wishes of the government and the Taiwanese people, Yeh said.
■ ASTRONOMY
Fullest moon to appear
The fullest moon of this year will appear tonight, according to astronomers in Taipei. Astronomers at the Taipei Astronomical Museum said the moon will become full at 12:52pm today, and that at 8pm members of the public will be able to look east at a 35o angle to view the fullest moon of the year. At that time the Moon will reach the closest point to Earth of its orbit. Today's moon will be 14 percent larger than the smallest full moon of this year, seen on April 3, when the moon was farthest from the Earth, the astronomers said. The full moon today is also expected to be 30 percent brighter than lesser full moons seen earlier in the year.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Hsieh wants `wetland bank'
Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) proposed a "wetland bank" concept yesterday, suggesting that efforts be made to conserve and restore the nation's wetlands. Efforts should be made to systematically research and plan wetland conservation and restoration so that wildlife habitats can be conserved and the sustainable development of wetlands can be secured, Hsieh said. Some of these efforts could be commissioned to NGO groups, he said. Noting that conserving the environment is a move that reflects "the power of progress," Hsieh said Taiwan should seek to link itself to the "global power of progress" and make the nation a stronghold of this concept. Hsieh made the remarks during a ceremony held in Taipei to mark the inauguration of the NGO group Taiwan Ecological Engineering Development Foundation.
■ CRIME
Ko held for insider trading
Venture capital mogul Ko Wen-chang (柯文昌) and two associates have been detained for alleged insider trading, a prosecutor said yesterday. Ko, chairman of leading capital firm WK Technology Fund, and company executives Ho Cheng-chin (何正卿) and Lee Rung-hsun (李榮勳) were arrested on Wednesday after prosecutors raided the company, said Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村), a spokesman for the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office. They were suspected of making illegal profits of up to NT$900 million (US$27 million) through the acquisition of Green Point Enterprises Co by US-based Jabil Circuit Inc, Lin said. WK Technology Fund allegedly purchased a large amount of shares in Green Point between July and December last year before Jabil Circuit, a maker of printed circuit boards, announced in January that the merger was completed. Ko, dubbed the "godfather of venture capital" by local media, also faces perjury charges for allegedly destroying evidence related to the case, the prosecutor said.
■ CRIME
Official sentenced to jail
Taipei judges yesterday sentenced Vice Chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation Chang Chun-hung (張俊宏) to 11 years in prison for embezzling funds from Formosa Telecom Investment (全民電通投資公司) during his time as company president in 1996. Chang, also a former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator, was charged with violating breach of trust, the Business Accounting Law (商業會計法) as well as the Securities Transaction Law (證券交易法). Chang said yesterday he was unsure whether he would appeal the verdict. The company was established by Chang and other DPP members in 1996 to fund Formosa Television (FTV, 民視). Chang reportedly raised NT$3 billion (US$90 million) from 15,000 investors, but only NT$1 billion was used for FTV.
■ HEALTH
New tumor treatment found
A new autoimmune treatment for brain tumors has been developed by the Taichung-based China Medical University Hospital, with a survival rate of 85.8 percent. Neurosurgery department director Cho Der-yang (周德陽) said yesterday the new therapy employs dendritic cells extracted from a patient's blood to fight malignant glioma cells in the brain to minimize side effects and increase the chances of survival. Cho said the dendritic cells are cultivated in vitro with malignant glioma cells, a process that "teaches" dendritic cells to recognize the malignant cells and trigger immune mechanisms. "Educated" dendritic cells are then injected back into the patient to stimulate his T-lymphocytes, which fight the remaining malignant cells. "A single course of treatment takes six months and 10 injections," Cho said.
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
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition