■ CHARITY
Tzu Chi distributes rice
The Chiayi County branch of the Tzu Chi General Hospital has reaped a greater-than-expected harvest of organic rice and will distribute the crop to followers of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation around the world, a hospital spokeswoman said yesterday. Ho Zi-yi (何姿儀), a section chief of Tzu Chi General Hospital’s Dalin Branch in charge of human affairs, said a total of 840kg of the rice was harvested last week from an experimental farm operated by the branch. The organic rice will be packed into small gift bags to be distributed worldwide to enable Tzu Chi followers to share the harvest, Ho said. She said the harvest of the Taigeng No. 2 rice strain was considered a precious gift from God, as rice farmers in eastern Taiwan lost all of the year’s first harvest of the Taigeng No. 4 rice strain because of a string of cold spells in April.
■ MEDICINE
Patient makes 576 visits
A patient suffering from blood coagulation abnormalities and mental disorders was the most frequent user of the National Health Insurance (NHI) system in 2007, making 576 insurance-covered medical visits during the year, the Bureau of National Health Insurance said yesterday. This means that the patient visited hospitals almost twice a day except for holidays, said Tsai Shu-ling (蔡淑鈴), manager of the bureau’s Medical Affairs Section. Tsai mentioned the case while briefing the NHI Supervisory Committee on the bureau’s measures to control abuses of the insurance program. She said that at present, any person covered by the insurance system who makes more than 200 medical visits a year or more than 20 visits in a month will be monitored and offered counseling by the bureau. There were 376 people who made more than 200 doctor visits in 2007, and 9,176 people who made more than 20 visits in a given month last year, she said.
■ CULTURE
Anti-waste concert planned
A number of social activist musicians and bands, led by the Amis activist singer Panay, will hold a concert tomorrow in support of a campaign against Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) plan to build a nuclear waste storage facility in Daren Township (達仁) — a traditional domain of the Paiwan Aborigines — in Taitung County. The concert will be held from 2pm to 5:30pm tomorrow at the Red House Market (紅樓創意市集) in Ximending (西門町) shopping district in Taipei City, near exit 1 of the Ximen MRT station.
■ AGRICULTURE
Officials head to Beijing
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), Taichung County Commissioner Huang Chung-sheng (黃仲生) and Changhua County Commissioner Cho Poh-yuan (卓伯源) departed for Beijing yesterday to promote agricultural products from central Taiwan. Cho, heading the group that also comprises members of an alliance of industrial and business associations from Taichung City and Taichung, Changhua and Nantou counties, said the group’s mission in Beijing is to promote Taiwanese products and tourism to consumers in the vast markets of China’s inner provinces. Hu said that since last year, the group has traveled to Hong Kong, Macau and Xiamen to promote agricultural products from central Taiwan. The group took tonnes of agricultural produce with them, including freshly picked grapes and guavas.
■ DIPLOMACY
MOFA touts youth diplomats
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday launched its first “international youth diplomats exchange project” to offer university students the chance to serve as young diplomats to help Taiwan expand cultural and educational exchanges with youth in countries with which it has diplomatic relations. Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) said at a ceremony to present flags to mark the establishment of the young diplomatic missions that the new project aims to pass on Taiwan’s rich experience and “soft power” in culture, advanced technology and education to its diplomatic allies. “We hope that our allies will benefit from young diplomats like you, who are tasked with introducing Taiwan’s development experience to your counterparts through the sharing of your knowledge and talents,” Ou said. The ministry said National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University and Fu Jen Catholic University would form six student groups to visit Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific — Palau, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Nauru and Kiribati — during the summer vacation. The universities will also organize activities to exchange culture and knowledge with youngsters from those countries.
■ POLITICS
Premier to visit Tainan
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) is scheduled to visit Tainan on Tuesday for a briefing by Tainan Mayor Hsu Tien-tsai (許添財) and Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) on why the city and county should be merged and upgraded to a municipal city. A 25-person ad hoc committee convened by the Ministry of the Interior unanimously approved the upgrade of Taipei County to a municipal city and the mergers of Taichung City and county and Kaohsiung City and county on Tuesday night. The committee, however, failed to reach a consensus on Tainan City and County’s proposal to be merged and upgraded to a municipal city. Tainan’s application will be referred to the Executive Yuan for a final decision. Liu’s planned trip was interpreted by some observers yesterday as a hint that the merger and upgrade plan might be approved by the Executive Yuan.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
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