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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ SOCIETY

Taipei to install cameras

The Taipei City Government will spend NT$1.6 billion (US$47.5 million) within the next year to install 13,000 new high-performance closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on streets all over the city to fight crime and monitor traffic conditions, Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday. After hearing a briefing at the Taipei City Police Department on a plan for the new video surveillance system, Hau said the cameras would be mounted at strategic locations on the city’s public roads to make Taipei a safer city. Asked whether the new equipment would mean a further erosion of residents’ privacy, Hau said no one would be given access to the recorded tapes without a justifiable reason. He added that all the video footage would be on roads and would not infringe on people’s privacy in their homes.



■ POLITICS

Ma to invite Tsai

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is to officially invite Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) today for talks, the Presidential Office said. Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) would personally deliver an invitation this morning to DPP Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), whom Wang said was the contact person assigned by Tsai for the matter. Wang declined to offer details of the letter, saying it would be rude to disclose it. Talk about a meeting between Ma and Tsai has been in the air, but Ma and Tsai failed to agree on the format and issues of the meeting. DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) yesterday said the party would not comment until it had received the letter.



■ POLITICS

Chiang events planned

The Presidential Office yesterday announced a series of activities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). A seminar sponsored by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) tomorrow will start the month of events. Organizers planned to invite 20 guests who were Chiang’s associates or friends to tell their own tales about Chiang. The KMT yesterday made public a 196-page Chiang pictorial. Historica Sinica will hold an exhibition from Saturday to Sept. 13. The Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange will invite author Jay Taylor to speak at a forum on Saturday at Eslite Bookstore in Taipei City’s Xinyi District. The Government Information Office will also premiere a 48-minute film on Saturday. A concert is scheduled for Sunday at the square of the National Concert Hall.



■ MEDIA

‘Formosa Post’ to debut

Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) announced yesterday the trial issue of her planned Formosa Post (玉山午報) would make its debut tomorrow. The date was picked to coincide with the anniversary of the implementation of the Taiwan Relations Act 30 years ago, Lu said. Another trial issue will be issued on May 20, with the official launch of the afternoon newspaper slated for July 1. Despite financial difficulties, Lu said there was no problem with manpower, but they planned to relocated to a new office within six weeks. Accusing the media of sensational coverage and giving in to commercial manipulation, Lu said she hoped to create a newspaper that served the public.



■ EDUCATION

ADHD proposal passed

The legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday passed the preliminary review of part of an amendment to the Special Education Act (特殊教育法) that would include children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in special needs education. Children with ADHD have been excluded from special needs education as the current Act stipulates that only those with “severe emotional disorder,” mental retardation, learning disorders or visual, hearing, linguistic or physical impairment are considered in need of special education. Legislators agreed to change the phrase “severe emotional disorder” to “emotional disorder” based on input from experts and educators. They also agreed that early intervention for children with special needs should begin as early as three years of age. However, legislators remained in disagreement over whether local governments should earmark more funding for special needs education and who should be authorized to evaluate and place a child with special needs.



■ NATURE

Young coati put on display

The first Taiwan-born coati, a mammal belonging to the raccoon family, has been put on public display at the Taipei Zoo, a zoo official said yesterday. A pair of coatis, also known as hog-nosed coons, which are endemic to tropical zones of South America, were introduced to the public at the Taipei Zoo for the first time last July. The pair gave birth to six cubs in January, but five of them died the following day, probably because of their mother’s inability to rear them, Taipei Zoo director Jason Yeh (葉傑生) said. “Zookeepers then began to feed the surviving coati,” Yeh said, adding that it was the first time coatis have successfully reproduced in Taiwan.



■ HEALTH

Transplant data released

Several local hospitals are excelling in advanced organ transplant techniques, a Bureau of National Health Insurance official said yesterday. The official made the remarks upon the release of figures on organ transplants between 1997 and 2007. Tzeng Wen-fu (曾玟富), responsible for medical service reviews at the bureau, said the figures showed the average five-year survival rate for heart transplant patients was 69 percent during the period, while the figure for kidney transplants reached 93 percent, with 80 percent recorded for liver transplants and 24 percent for lung transplants. Cheng Hsin Hospital in Taipei was found to have performed the best in heart transplants, with a 79 percent three-year survival rate, bureau figures show. The figures show that the Taipei-based National Taiwan University Hospital recorded the highest five-year survival rate of 96 percent for kidney transplants among the country’s medical institutes, while the Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital registered the highest survival rate of 91 percent for liver transplants.



■ CULTURE

Museum hosts touch tours

The visually impaired are being invited to take special touch tours of the National Palace Museum over the next four Sundays, which will give them the chance to touch replicas of well-known artifacts such as the Jadeite Cabbage, the organizer said yesterday. The tours are aimed at promoting art education among the visually impaired, the Welfare Association for the Blind said. They will take place on the mornings of April 12, April 19, April 26 and May 3, and each tour will accommodate up to 12 people, the association said. Those interested can register with the association by calling (02) 2599-1234.


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