■ POLITICS
New NSC chief sworn in
Hu Wei-jen (胡為真), former representative to Singapore, was sworn in as secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC) yesterday. Hu replaces Su Chi (蘇起), who resigned unexpectedly on Feb. 11, citing health and family reasons. Both the Presidential Office and Su's close aide dismissed the speculation that he stepped down to take responsibility for the controversy over US beef. While Presidential Office Spokesman Wan Yu-chi (王郁琦) has said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) could still seek Su's advice, Su’s close aide said he had no immediate plan to offer such services. Hu, a 62-year-old career diplomat, is the son of general Hu Tsung-nan (胡宗南), who won the affection of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) because of his anti-Japanese efforts. Under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, Hu Wei-jen served as the envoy to Germany and Singapore. In 2007, he publicly criticized the DPP for its anti-Chiang policies and later resigned his post in Singapore.
■ DIPLOMACY
MOFA rejects travel rumors
Minister of Foreign Affairs Henry Chen (陳銘政) yesterday dismissed media reports that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was planning to visit the nation's South Pacific allies next month or in April. Everything is still under consideration and has not been finalized, Chen said. The Central News Agency reported on Monday that the ministry had suggested that Ma consider paying a visit to each of the six countries, instead of attending the Third Taiwan-South Pacific summit. Originally planned to be held last year, the summit was postponed because of the damage caused by Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan last August.
■ AGRICULTURE
DPP warns on import origin
Large quantities of dried daylilies from China are entering the country illegally by being passed off as products of Vietnam, hurting local farmers' interests, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday. Taiwan bans the import of 830 Chinese agricultural products, including dried daylilies. However, banned Chinese agricultural products have found their way into Taiwan either through smuggling or by being presented as the product of a third country. DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said that 73,830kg of dried daylilies, purportedly from Vietnam, were imported into the country last year. The shipments were accompanied by Vietnamese certificates of origin, but Pan said Vietnam does not produce a lot of daylilies. Customs officials said the certificate of origin is not the only document checked when screening incoming shipments, adding that Vietnamese customs officials are also working with Taiwan to prevent their country from being blamed unfairly for helping other countries engage in illegal imports.
■ EDUCATION
Sample English classes
The British Council in Taipei will host an open house on Sunday to allow the public to try its English courses for free. The sample classes will include English for adults, English for young learners and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) preparation, the council said yesterday. Alison Marwick, director of the council's English Language Services, said the office had invested a great deal of money to upgrade classroom equipment, such as interactive white boards and notebooks, to improve the learning process. People interested in the program can call (02) 8722-1000 to register, , or e-mail englishcourses@britishcouncil.org.tw
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching