■ HEALTH
H1N1 toll now at 46
A 37-year-old man died of influenza A (H1N1) five days ago, bringing the number of H1N1 deaths in the country to 46 since the outbreak of the virus early last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The latest H1N1 fatality was also the fourth in 10 days, following the deaths of a 21-year-old female university student and a 24-year-old man, CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said. In the most recent case, the patient developed flu symptoms early this month but did not seek medical attention until July 19, Chou said. After the patient’s condition began to worsen on July 23, he was transferred to the intensive care unit of a hospital where he died three days later, Chou said. Except for a 17-year-old patient, none of the victims who have died of H1N1 in Taiwan had been vaccinated against the virus.
■ FILM
Hsu, Sun up for awards
Director Hsu Li-kong (徐立?nd actor-turned-charity volunteer Sun Yueh (孫越) have been named by the Golden Horse Film Festival to receive special awards for their contribution to the local film industry, the festival organizer said. The Golden Horse Awards will present a lifetime achievement award to Hsu and a special contribution award to Sun. Hsu and Sun will receive the honors at this year’s awards ceremony on Nov. 20 in Taoyuan County. Hsu, one of the co-founders of the Golden Horse Film Festival, has helped cultivate several directors including Ang Lee (李安), Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮) and others who have earned awards at film festivals in Berlin and Venice. Sun is a two-time Golden Horse award winner. He has devoted himself completely to charity work since retiring in 1989.
■ AGRICULTURE
Taitung pig sales suspended
Butchers and pig suppliers in Taitung County will suspend sales for 11 days during the period July 30 to Aug. 31 because of low supplies. The pork market in Taitung usually closes for a few days each summer ahead of the Ghost Festival in August when demand tends to rise sharply, but sales have never been suspended for more than seven days at a time. However, this year there has been a shortage of pork because of high summer temperatures, which affect the survival rate of pigs, and because pig stocks were depleted by Typhoon Morakot in August last year, said Wu Tze-he (吳子和), who is in charge of livestock production affairs in the Taitung County Government. This month, temperatures in Taitung have ranged on average between 25 ºC and 32 ºC.
■ CRIME
Executives sentenced
Taipei District Court sentenced yesterday Hu Hung-chiu (胡洪九), the former chief financial officer of Pacific Electric Wire and Cable Co (太平洋電線電纜), to 18 years in prison for embezzlement, conversion and forgery. The court also fined him NT$1 billion (US$30 million). Meanwhile, two former chairmen of Pacific Electric Wire and Cable Co, Jack Sun (孫道存) and Tung Ching-yun (仝清筠), were also respectively sentenced to four years and three years and two months in prison. Hu, also former chairman of chipmaker Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽), was indicted on charges of stealing about NT$17.1 billion from 1993 to 1998 when he worked at the company. The ruling found Sun guilty of conspiring with Hu in the embezzlement. It also ruled Tung of having embezzled NT$54 million from Pacific Electric in 2002 through fake business transactions.
Staff Writer, with CNA
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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