■ DEFENSE
Ma targets military changes
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that the country will move from compulsory military service toward all-volunteer armed forces in four to six years. After a voluntary enlistment system is in place, the president said, “the military will be further streamlined and a smaller, but stronger military will be established.” Ma made the remarks during an address at a ceremony to mark the 84th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China Military Academy in Fengshan, Kaohsiung County. The president noted that “neutrality of the military has taken root in Taiwan, a sign that the military will be loyal to the country rather than to a specific party or individual.” The president praised the academy, founded in Whampoa, in China’s Guangdong Province, in 1924, for its contributions in conflicts over the past eight decades.
■ POLICE
Top official to take office
The nation’s top police official is scheduled to assume office on Friday, a press statement released by the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞), currently the Taipei City Police Department director-general, will leave his post and take over as director-general of the National Police Agency, overseeing all of Taiwan’s police forces following a personnel reshuffle announced by Minister of the Interior Liao Liao-yi (廖了以) last month. Wang replaces Hou You-yi (侯友宜), who has been appointed as the new president of the Central Police University (CPU), Taiwan’s highest police force training institute, replacing outgoing CPU President Shieh Ing-dan (謝銀黨). Yesterday’s statement said that Shieh has been appointed as a counselor to the Executive Yuan on social security affairs. Shieh will provide counseling to the Cabinet on crime prevention and control, and will participate in cross-strait meetings on crime crackdowns on behalf of the Executive Yuan, the statement said.
■ HEALTH
Healthcare receives boost
Taiwan’s first “digital medical treatment” touring vehicle was launched yesterday to take high-tech health care services to villages and small towns far from large hospitals. The vehicle, which is equipped with a digital X-ray machine, an advanced ultrasound device and pap-smear equipment as well as other state-of-the-art medical equipment, will be used in Taichung County to offer residents better quality health services, Taichung County Commissioner Chuang Chung-sheng (黃仲生) said. Speaking outside the Taichung County Hall, Huang said that because of changes in people’s lifestyles and diets, the prevalence of chronic diseases and cancer have gradually increased in recent years. He said the vehicle would help the health department’s efforts to increase early detection of diseases by providing the county’s residents with more opportunities for medical checkups.
■ TRANSPORT
Retail space up for grabs
Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) is set to begin inviting bids by retailers today to lease space at stations along the MRT’s Orange Line, which is scheduled to begin operations in August. At the Formosa Boulevard Station, which connects the Orange Line to the north-south Red Line, a total of 89 retail outlet spaces will be available for lease, the KRTC said. The 14.3km Orange Line extends east-west across Kaohsiung City and into Kaohsiung County, beginning from Sizihwan Station in the city’s Gushan District (鼓山) and ending at Daliao Station in Kaohsiung County.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai