■HEALTH
Records to be in Chinese
The Department of Health (DOH) is preparing to push to have medical case histories recorded in Chinese on a trial basis, starting next year. The DOH was censured on Wednesday for failing to introduce the program in 2005 as scheduled to allow patients to better understand their own conditions. In Taiwan, medical case histories are written in English. Director General of the DOH’s Department of Medical Affairs Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said that the program would be implemented on a step-by-step basis, beginning with medical history synopses, then moving on to medical treatment plans, certificates of diagnosis and death, consent forms for surgery, medical examination reports and other documents.
■HEALTH
Group slams airport stores
The John Tung Foundation, an anti-smoking group, accused duty-free stores at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport of breaking the law by promoting cigarette sales. Yau Sea-wain (姚思遠), president of the foundation, said a total of nine cigarette products sold at the stores have been found to violate the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法), which can lead to fines of up to NT$145 million (US$4.5 million). In four of the cases, the sellers deliberately downplayed warning messages, and in the other five cases, there were descriptions obviously intended to advertise the products, Yau said. He said although each in-bound adult traveler is only allowed to bring in one carton of duty-free cigarettes, the stores allegedly have encouraged travelers to buy more. The Bureau of Health Promotion said it had received a formal complaint from the John Tung Foundation and had launched an investigation.
■PERFORMING ARTS
Taiwanese wins prize
Chou Shu-yi (周書毅), an up-and-coming Taiwanese choreographer, has won the top prize in a keenly contested global choreographic competition sponsored by the renowned London dance house Sadler’s Wells. In addition to a cash prize of £2,000 (US$3,200), 26-year-old Chou and his group will also be given an all-expense paid trip to London to perform at a dance festival at Sadler’s Wells in January. In 2004, his solo piece, Street Lamp (路燈), was performed at an international dance forum sponsored by Cloud Gate 2 troupe. Another piece, Under Street Lamp (路燈下), also won a gold medal in a competition held that year. In addition to his own career as a solo dancer and choreographer, Chou has frequently performed as a member of Horse Dance Theater (驫舞劇場), Taiwan’s all-male dance troupe.
■CRIME
Man arrested over BB gun
Police arrested a man late on Wednesday who allegedly tried to take a BB gun, a type of air gun, into a campaign event led by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the Presidential Office said yesterday. Authorities found the gun during a routine security check shortly before the president arrived at the campaign event in Pingtung County. The BB gun was not loaded. “He might have had the intent to kill or injure,” Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said. “We need to do further checks.” Ma was unfazed by the incident and grateful for the early intervention by the event’s security personnel, he said. In his defense, the man said the BB gun was left in his bag by his friends, adding that he did not know he couldn’t bring a toy gun with him to a venue where the president would be present.
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai