■ DIPLOMACY
No comment on Chen trip
Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) remained tight-lipped yesterday on whether President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) would visit the nation's allies in Central America and the Caribbean early next year. "We will send a high-level delegation to attend Guatemalan president-elect Alvaro Colom's inauguration as we value our friendship with Guatemala very much," Huang said. Formosa TV on Tuesday reported that Chen is scheduled to visit Haiti, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and St. Kitts and Nevis during the trip to attend Colom's inauguration. The report said the president would set out on his journey on the evening of Jan. 12, the day of the legislative election so that he could make it in time to attend the inauguration on Jan. 14. When questioned on the report, Huang said:"Nothing is finalized yet."
■ TRANSPORTATION
Waterproof bills introduced
Following a month-long trial period, parking bills for motorcycles in Taipei City will be waterproof starting on Saturday to prevent them from being damaged when it rains, the Transportation Department said yesterday. The bills will come in seven colors -- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, gray and purple -- each color representing a day of the week to help motorists remember when the bill was issued and the due date for payment, the department said. The Parking Management Office said the waterproof bills do not dissolve even when soaked in water for three days. The colors will also help prevent motorists from cheating by parking in the same spot for more than one day and leaving the bill on the motorcycles, the office said. Parking bills, running at NT$20 per day, are attached to handlebars or backracks on the motorcycles.
■ DEFENSE
PRC would win war: minister
Minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu (李天羽) said yesterday that the Chinese military would win if it attacked Taiwan. "If no foreign allies came and helped us, we would lose the war no matter what. But our military would be able to destroy 60 percent to 70 percent of the Chinese troops, so it would be impossible for [Beijing] to win easily," Lee said. The results of simulated war games showed the same outcome each time, Lee said. The minister made the remarks when responding to a question by People First Party Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) at a meeting of the legislature's National Defense Committee yesterday. Chang asked Lee if Taiwan would be able to resist a Chinese attack if the US refused to come to the nation's aid.
■ EVENTS
Duo wins medals in Japan
Two students from National Kaohsiung Hospitality College won medals in the 39th WorldSkill Competition in Numazu City, Japan, a school spokesman said yesterday. The biennial international competition was held from Nov. 14 to Nov. 21, drawing 800 participants from 47 countries or territories who faced tough international standards in 47 key skills and technologies. Wu Tzu-ching (武子靖), a student in the department of baking technology and management, won the silver medal in bakery, while Ho Wen-yi (何文毅), a student in the department of Western culinary arts, won the medallion for excellence in cooking. Wu baked bread in the shape of high-tech products such as computers, cellphones and keyboards, while Ho used Taiwanese seasonings and flavoring to make dishes, obtaining high scores for creativity, hygiene and cooking methods.
■ EMPLOYMENT
Labor act to cover temps
The Council of Labor Affairs announced yesterday that temporary workers employed by the government would be protected under the Labor Standards Act (勞基法) from January. Minister Lu Tien-lin (盧天麟) told a press conference that an estimated 69,000 government-hired temporary workers would benefit from the policy change. One-third of the temporary workers are employed by the central government, with the remainder working for local governments. Lu said the new policy would add approximately NT$680 million to the annual budget. However, Lu said, the policy would not apply to the government's contract workers as they were employed under special regulations.
■ POLITICS
China woos farmers
China announced new rules on imports yesterday that favor Taiwanese farmers, taking aim at a group that traditionally supports the pan-green camp ahead of next year's elections. Beijing has recently offered several sweeteners to enhance its image among Taiwanese, most recently focusing on farmers, who have been hard hit by cheaper imports. China exempted Taiwanese fruit from import duties in 2005 and has since extended that policy to some vegetables and fish. Now, Beijing is encouraging Taiwanese farmers to invest in certain agricultural development zones in China, promising less red tape, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Fan Liqing (范麗青) said. The new rules will "encourage cross-strait agricultural cooperation and benefit [our] Taiwan compatriots," she told a news conference. But investment will be limited to certain areas of Fujian Province, Hainan Privince and a few other inland areas.
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
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not