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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ 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.


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