■ POLITICS
Debt not serious: Kaohsiung
The Kaohsiung City Government yesterday dismissed an accusation by Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Greater Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) that residents of the city are in serious per capita debt because of the city government’s loans. Director-general of the city’s Finance Bureau Lei Chung-dar (雷仲達) said the city government was NT$145.2 billion (US$4.5 billion) in debt as of the end of last month. The city government took out loans of about NT$5.8 billion between 1994 and 1998, while the amount rose to NT$8.5 billion after Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) came to office in 2006, he said. On average, the city’s 1.5 million residents were NT$95,000 in debt per capita instead of NT$140,000 as alleged by Huang, Lei said, adding that the city government took out loans in a bid to improve the city’s infrastructure. Huang alleged that the city’s debt would hit NT$200 billion after the city and Kaohsiung County complete a planned merger in December.
■ TRAVEL
Medical tourism touted
The chairman of a local travel agency yesterday said the nation should make a more concerted effort to enhance the appeal of its medical tourism sector, especially as interest in visiting Taiwan for medical checkups is growing among Chinese. Grand Travel chairman Jeff Chu (朱光志) said the combination of sightseeing and getting a checkup or other procedures done in Taiwan is very appealing to many Chinese because Taiwan offers high-quality health care at relatively low cost. However, only a limited number of the more than 1 million Chinese who are allowed to visit Taiwan annually can receive medical services because of visa and itinerary limitations. Chu urged the government to issue medical visas to visitors who would like to get treatment or checkups. He also recommended that medical institutions and spas develop integrated travel options.
■ MEDICINE
Doctors treat ‘elephant arm’
A two-year-old Cambodian girl suffering from massive swelling in her right arm arrived at Taichung Veterans General Hospital on Saturday for treatment. Reachny Mich, whose condition has been described as having an “elephant arm,” was discovered by a Taiwanese medical team when it was in Cambodia in April to provide free medical services. Taiwan’s government promised to treat her after Yu Tzu-hsun (余慈薰), a volunteer on the medical team, made repeated appeals on her behalf. Pediatric hematologist Chang Teh-kao (張德高) said Mich’s blood pressure, heartbeat and body temperature all appeared normal on Saturday, but he feared that her disorder was far more “complicated” than originally thought. Chang said Mich’s right arm appears to be four to five times bigger than her left arm, possibly because of an abnormal growth of blood vessels or bones.
■ CULTURE
Children’s troupe to perform
A children’s group will stage a self-created musical featuring performers in various dog costumes next month to help raise the public’s awareness of stray animal protection. If Kids Theater Company will put on the Chinese-language musical free of charge in Kaohsiung City on Sept. 4 and Taichung City on Sept. 11. The musical tells the story of how a family dog is abandoned by its owner and meets other stray dogs on the street. “We want to use this musical to show how happy dogs are when their owners love and care for them,” said Chao Chih-chiang (趙自強), the head of the troupe and the musical’s writer.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it