■BIOTECHNOLOGY
First stage of park done
The first stage of the Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park is complete and is expected to reach an annual output value of NT$18 billion (US$557.3 million), with more than 6,000 employees upon completion of the third stage of construction in 2013, the Council for Economic Planning and Development said yesterday. The council said 20 factories and one incubation center have already began operations at the park. Among them, Hokuto Corp, a Japan-listed company that produces mushrooms, has the largest investment at NT$430 million. Total investment in the first-stage construction area has reached NT$3.86 billion, the council said, adding that the second stage would be completed by March.
■TOURISM
Orchid castle park opens
A multi-function park named Orchid Exploration World opened yesterday in Tainan County, with management vowing to make it a world-class leisure and tourism facility. Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) and Taiwan Orchid Professional Co chairman Chang Teh-ning (張德齡) presided over the opening of the park, which was previously an orchid biotechnology production center. Su praised the local orchid industry and said he hoped the park would promote local brands on the world market by showcasing local achievements. Taiwan Orchid Professional Co, commissioned by the county government, is in charge of operating the multi-function leisure park for 12 years.
■HEALTH
Swine flu toll rises to 21
The Central Epidemic Command Center reported yesterday that A(H1N1) claimed one more life on Thursday, bringing the number of the nation’s swine flu victims to 21. The victim, the second in Hualien, was a 45-year-old man with chronic diseases, Hualien County Government’s Department of Health said. The man had long suffered from tuberculosis, hypertension, diabetes and gout. He tested positive for A(H1N1) last Sunday, the bureau said. He died on Thursday. The center reported that the 20th swine flu victim was a 10-year-old girl with epilepsy who died on Friday in Taipei County. She was hospitalized on Tuesday after having a sudden bout of seizures and developing a fever at school. The hospital tried to control her seizures with emergency treatment, but did not give her the anti-viral drug Tamiflu for swine flu. The girl was declared dead on Wednesday. Only on Thursday did a test report by the Centers for Disease Control reveal that she had a severe case of swine flu.
■EDUCATION
Schools to push exercise
Based on research showing that “exercise makes people smart,” the Ministry of Education recently suggested that elementary and junior high schools reinforce requirements that students do stretching exercises in the morning. Physical Education Department Director Wang Chun-chuan (王俊權) said scientific studies — including one in the Journal of Physiology by researchers at National Cheng Kung University in May — show that exercise helps boost brain vitality. The team found spatial or aversive learning and memory of laboratory mice improved after they were pushed to run on a treadmill or wheel for one month. The conclusion was cited in a New York Time article on Sept. 16 and triggered heated debate on the Internet. Citing the report, Wang said teachers should lead students in stretching exercises 30 minutes every morning, saying the practice would enhance students’ ability to learn.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard