■ HEALTH
Taichung City offers chickens
The Taichung City Government will start selling free-range chickens raised on organic feed on a trial basis from next month, Environmental Protection Department chief Lee Li-teh (李立德) said yesterday. Lee said the chickens would not contain any antibiotic residue or growth hormones and would be marketed over the Internet. The chickens are the result of a two-year experiment on a local farm, raising chickens on table scraps provided by Lee’s department. During the promotional period, each chicken will cost NT$450 and only 50 chickens will be sold per month, Lee said during a news conference with the Taichung City Farmers Association. The chickens take more than six months to raise in order to ensure their meat is tasty, he said.
■ DIPLOMACY
ICDF looking for volunteers
The Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) is seeking 90 volunteers to take part in humanitarian missions to the nation’s diplomatic allies. Over the past 14 years, ICDF has sent more than 400 volunteers on long-term and short-term medical, agriculture, financial and environmental projects. Volunteers must be at least 20 years old, a Republic of China citizen, have a college degree or five years’ work experience in a related field. English-speaking ability is preferred. Volunteers will receive three months of training, a roundtrip ticket and a monthly stipend between US$400 and US$700, depending on their posting. Applications are being accepted until Monday.
■ POLITICS
Officials seek special status
Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (?]) and other Tainan politicians called on the Executive Yuan yesterday to merge the city and county and upgrade them to a special municipality. They talked to Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) yesterday, but did not receive a commitment. Liu said the government would approve applications of county and city mergers in accordance with the Local Government Act (地方制度法). Hsu said the government’s plan to establish three special municipalities — Taipei City, Kaohsiung City and Taichung County/City — and 15 counties would hurt Tainan County and Tainan City. “Tainan County and Tainan City have been marginalized in the past,” he said. “Kaohsiung developed fast because of Kaohsiung Harbor, and Taichung’s growth was a result of the [former] provincial government. Tainan, however, has been oppressed by politics.” Su said upgrading the status of Tainan County and City would facilitate unity in the country because “they are the origins of the country’s culture and history.”
■ POLITICS
Kang takes office
Newly elected Independent Legislator Kang Shih-ju (康世儒) assumed office yesterday and joined the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) caucus. Caucus whip Lin Pin-kuan (林炳坤) said the NPSU would continue to oppose wrangling between the pan-blue and pan-green camps. Kang was elected in a March 14 by-election in Miaoli after he beat Chen Luan-ying (陳鑾英), wife of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Lee Yi-ting (李乙廷). Kang, chief of Chunan Township (竹南), gave up his KMT membership to run in the by-election. Lee, who was elected as a first-term lawmaker in January last year, lost his seat on Dec. 10 after the Taichung branch of the High Court rejected his appeal of a Miaoli District Court conviction on vote buying.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
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