■ AVIATION
Peeping Tom pilot resigns
EVA Air has fired a pilot after he was caught videotaping air hostesses in a plane toilet, the airline said yesterday. “The incident happened and he has resigned,” an EVA Air press officer told DPA without elaborating. Local media reported yesterday that the incident occurred on Monday on a flight to Taiwan from the US via Japan. The pilot, only identified by his surname Kim (金), 39, allegedly hid a small digital video camera in the business-class toilet and filmed hostesses changing out of their uniforms when they went off duty. The camera was found and EVA Air ordered Kim to resign, local media reported. The Consumers’ Foundation said EVA Air should launch an investigation, apologize to the public and compensate passengers if they were also taped. Under Taiwanese law, invasion of another person’s privacy carries a maximum three-year jail term.
■ CULTURE
Hakka videos wanted
Registration for this year’s Hakka music video contest has begun and will last until Sept. 15, Council for Hakka Affairs Minister Huang Yu-chen (黃玉振) said on Thursday. With “Hakka pop music” the theme of this year’s contest, the council has selected about 100 Hakka pop songs for which participants can make accompanying music videos. Those who choose to create music videos for Hakka songs other than the ones selected by the council must submit a written authorization from the original songwriter with their music video. There is no age or nationality restriction and the works will be judged based on creativity, interpretation of Hakka culture and visual content. Details of the contest can be found online at www.hakka-mv.com.tw.
■ DIPLOMACY
Jason Hu to visit Beijing
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) is scheduled to fly to Beijing next Friday to promote Taiwanese agricultural products. Hu said yesterday he will be accompanying a trade delegation from neighboring Changhua County to jointly push agricultural products from central Taiwan. When asked whether he would meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) during his visit, Hu, who served as foreign minister and head of the Government Information Office in the 1990s, said no such arrangement had been made given his “low status.” After the Beijing visit, Hu said he would proceed to China’s northeastern province of Jilin with a group of property developers and real estate brokers from Taichung to explore the real estate market. The Taichung developers are expected to meet their Jilin counterparts for talks on potential joint ventures and bilateral cooperation in the cultural and construction fields, Hu said.
■ DIPLOMACY
Pipeline a step closer
Visiting Deputy Director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) on Thursday promised Kinmen County Council Speaker Hsieh Yi-chang (謝宜璋) that he would “proactively” work to ensure that Kinmen is supplied with fresh water and electricity by China. Zheng’s remarks were in response to Hsieh’s proposal that China speed up plans to supply fresh water and electricity to Taiwan’s outlying island. Hsieh said discussions have been held for years on plans to lay undersea pipelines so that fresh water from Fujian Province could be provided to Kinmen. Zheng arrived in Taiwan last Wednesday mainly to work out the agenda for a planned fifth forum between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party, which will be held on July 11 and July 12.
■ ENERGY
Wind power increasing: CEPD
The nation’s installed wind power capacity is expected to increase to 980,000 kilowatts by next year under a new government policy to develop green energy, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said yesterday. The capacity will reach 1.48 million kilowatts by 2015 and 3 million kilowatts by 2025, the council said. Last year, Taiwan’s installed wind power capacity reached 358,000 kilowatts, making it the world’s 23rdlargest producer of wind power, the council said. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that the world’s total power generation capacity will jump from 18.9 trillion kilowatt-hour (kwh) in 2006 to 25 trillion kwh by 2015, or annual growth of 3.1 percent.
■ SOCIETY
Figures show more men
The number of men of draft age totaled 174,772 this year, up 7.81 percent from last year, a report released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior said. The figure saw five straight years of decline from 2001 to 2005 owing to a drop in Taiwan’s birth rate. After slight growth in 2006 and an abrupt rise in 2007, a 10.71 percent plunge was recorded last year, the ministry said. Of all men reaching draft age this year, 141,581, or 81 percent cannot be conscripted. The most common reason — given by 93.8 percent of them — is that they are still studying.
■ HEALTH
Two more A(H1N1) cases
The Central Epidemics Command Center yesterday reported two more cases of imported swine flu, officially known as influenza A(H1N1), raising the total number of the nation’s confirmed cases to 60. The center said the patients are two female students, 14 and 21 years old, who had returned home from California. One of them developed symptoms after her return to Taiwan, while the other was found to have a fever upon arrival in Taiwan. Meanwhile, the center said that although community outbreaks of swine flu have been reported in Hong Kong and Thailand, Taiwan has no plan to revise its pandemic alert level or to upgrade its yellow travel advisory for the two countries. Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) reminded people traveling to or transiting in Hong Kong to pay special attention to hygiene.
■ENERGY
Wind power increasing: CEPD
The nation’s installed wind power capacity is expected to increase to 980,000 kilowatts by next year under a new government policy to develop green energy, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said yesterday. The capacity will reach 1.48 million kilowatts by 2015 and 3 million kilowatts by 2025, the council said. Last year, Taiwan’s installed wind power capacity reached 358,000 kilowatts, making it the world’s 23rdlargest producer of wind power, the council said. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that the world’s total power generation capacity will jump from 18.9 trillion kilowatt-hour (kwh) in 2006 to 25 trillion kwh by 2015, or annual growth of 3.1 percent.
■SOCIETY
Figures show more men
The number of men of draft age totaled 174,772 this year, up 7.81 percent from last year, a report released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior said. The figure saw five straight years of decline from 2001 to 2005 owing to a drop in Taiwan’s birth rate. After slight growth in 2006 and an abrupt rise in 2007, a 10.71 percent plunge was recorded last year, the ministry said. Of all men reaching draft age this year, 141,581, or 81 percent cannot be conscripted. The most common reason — given by 93.8 percent of them — is that they are still studying.
■HEALTH
Two more A(H1N1) cases
The Central Epidemics Command Center yesterday reported two more cases of imported swine flu, officially known as influenza A(H1N1), raising the total number of the nation’s confirmed cases to 60. The center said the patients are two female students, 14 and 21 years old, who had returned home from California. One of them developed symptoms after her return to Taiwan, while the other was found to have a fever upon arrival in Taiwan. Meanwhile, the center said that although community outbreaks of swine flu have been reported in Hong Kong and Thailand, Taiwan has no plan to revise its pandemic alert level or to upgrade its yellow travel advisory for the two countries. Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) reminded people traveling to or transiting in Hong Kong to pay special attention to hygiene.
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