■ TRANSPORTATION
Kaohsiung mulls free MRT
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday that the city government could provide free travel on the city’s MRT system on certain Fridays. Chen told reporters after an administrative meeting yesterday morning that the city government was considering subsidizing passengers taking the MRT with the city’s air pollution fund. The city’s Environmental Protection Bureau has levied an “air pollution fee” from construction companies for their construction projects since July 1997. Chen said the city government was still deliberating details of the plan, but that the free rides were likely to be granted on certain Fridays, adding that it had also organized an “energy conservation and carbon dioxide emission task force.”
■ AVIATION
FAT loses domestic rights
The Civil Aeronautics Administration last night announced that the already cash-strapped Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) would lose the rights to all of its domestic flights for failing to meet conditions stipulated by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. CAA Director-General Billy Chang (張國政) said that unless FAT finds an influx of capital by June 15, the airline’s international flights would also be suspended and that the CAA would revoke the company’s operating license. FAT is being penalized for its failure to pay monthly takeoff and landing fees for its airplanes, employees’ wages and other operational costs. Last month, the company made a surprise announcement that it would suspend operations.
■ CULTURE
Ma makes museum call
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has asked Miaoli County not to use his name for a planned museum dedicated to him, the Presidential Office said yesterday. Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said that Ma had talked with Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) by telephone and made the request personally. Ma also expressed the hope that Liu would talk with local historical and cultural experts to see if the county government would proceed. Ma has not yet decided whether to donate his personal belongs to the museum for display, Wang said. The Miaoli County Government came under fire after allocating NT$50 million (US$1.6 million) to build the museum in Tongsiao Township’s (通宵) Ma Village (馬家庄), a traditional village whose residents are mostly surnamed Ma. While Liu argued that the project would help boost tourism in the county, some slammed it as an attempt by Liu to fawn on Ma. Liu claimed Ma had called him to lend his support to the project. The Hong Kong-born Ma’s ancestors did not come from the village and none of his family has ever lived in the village.
■ FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Yuan tapped for US envoy
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed yesterday that it was consulting with Washington over the appointment of Jason Yuan (袁健生) as the next representative to the US. In his first reception with reporters, Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) confirmed that Yuan, who has served as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) and the People First Party’s representative to the US since 2004, has been tapped by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to be the nation’s representative in Washington. “Yuan is experienced and well connected in Washington and has a profound understanding of the political situation in the US, which makes him very suitable for the post,” Ou said. Deputy Representative to the US Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷) said he expects the US government to reply within “a reasonable period of time.”
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese