The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) will present a comprehensive plan next month to push for the establishment of a World Environment Organization (WEO), EPA Minister Winston Dang (
Dang, responding to a proposal put forth by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in May calling for the formation of WEO, said the EPA met with environmentalists and academics last month to discuss the issue and held seminars this month to facilitate further discussions.
Dang also disclosed the EPA's policy objectives over the next five years during a report at the Presidential Office on the nation's efforts to protect the environment. These include reducing the percentage of days with poor air quality to below 1.5 percent by 2011 and improving the water quality of five urban rivers in Taipei County, Keelung City, Tainan County, Kaohsiung County and Pingtung County, Dang said.
On environmental diplomacy, Dang said an air monitoring station that Taiwan is helping to set up in Guatemala is expected to be completed next year.
In related news, Lin Yu-Kai (
"Despite the detour, the EPA is determined in its anti-global warming efforts," he said. "In the meantime, the EPA will lay the groundwork, such as evaluating and registering the greenhouse gas emissions of all businesses around the country."
The EPA will form a greenhouse gas emission reduction office to centralize the anti-global warming task force, so that all inter-ministry dealings can go through one consolidated body, he said.
UNDER WATCH: Taiwan will have to establish a standardized nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus and monitor its spread, the CDC said The Langya henipavirus, which can be transmitted from animals to humans, has been discovered in China, with 35 human infections reported so far, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, adding that the nation would establish a nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus. A study titled “A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China” that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday said that a new henipavirus associated with a fever-causing human illness was identified in China. The study said an investigation identified 35 patients with acute infection of the Langya henipavirus in China’s Shandong
MISSILE PATHS: Certain information on the Chinese missile fire was not disclosed to maintain secrecy over military intelligence-gathering capabilities, the MND said Military experts yesterday speculated on the implication of the government’s tight-lipped response and the lack of air-raid sirens during the first day of China’s military drills the previous day. On Thursday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched 11 Dongfeng-series ballistic missiles into waters north, east and south of Taiwan, a day after US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s departure from the country, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The Japanese Ministry of Defense said that China fired nine missiles toward Taiwan, including four that flew over Taiwan proper. However, China’s exhibition of force failed to terrorize the local populace, because
If any war were to break out between the US and China, one trigger might be the increasingly frequent fighter jet encounters near Taiwan. Almost every day, Taiwanese fighter pilots hop in their US-made F-16s to intercept Chinese warplanes screaming past their territory. The encounters probe the nation’s defenses and force the pilots on both sides to avoid mistakes that could lead to a crisis that spins out of control. “I didn’t know whether they would fire at me,” said retired colonel Mountain Wang, recounting a tense five-minute confrontation he had with Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) jets more than a decade
INCREASINGLY EMBOLDENED: China can no longer be dismissed as inexperienced, demonstrating an ability to coordinate land and sea missile systems, an expert said Beijing’s largest-ever exercises around Taiwan have offered essential clues into its plans for a grueling blockade in the event of an attack on Taiwan, and revealed an increasingly emboldened Chinese military, experts said. The visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi — second in line to the presidency — sparked outrage from Beijing, which launched vast military maneuvers around the nation, even at the risk of partially exposing its plans to the US and its Asian allies. Mobilizing fighter planes, helicopters and warships, the drills aim to simulate a blockade of Taiwan and include practicing an “attack on
RSS