■ Society
Rail workers hassle activist
Anti-nuclear energy activist Wu Chi-jung (吳其融) was blocked from boarding a train bound for Taipei at Gongliao Railway Station in Taipei County’s Gongliao Township (貢寮) yesterday while carrying a plastic bin painted like a nuclear waste barrel that was used as a prop in anti-nuclear power events. Station employees called the police and inspectors from the nearby Fourth Nuclear Power Plant to check if the plastic bin was radioactive. The plastic bin “passed” the inspection around an hour later, and Wu was finally allowed to carry the prop onto a train, but was asked to put it in a large black garbage bag so that it wouldn’t scare other passengers. “This is so ridiculous because this is obviously a fake,” Wu said. “If they think it may be radioactive, why did the inspectors not wear protective suits?”
■ MILITARY
Army plans missile shield
Taiwan will deploy a new missile defense system by 2015 to protect bases from attacks by China, an official said on Wednesday, a sign that military distrust still runs deep despite a thaw in trade ties. The military is in the process of upgrading batteries and will be adding four new ones, anchored by Patriot III missiles from the US, Deputy Minister of National Defense Andrew Yang (楊念祖) said. China has an estimated 1,500 missiles aimed at Taiwan and has shown no sign of removing them despite repeated calls from officials in Taipei. The defense shield will be able to sight incoming Chinese short-range missiles, Yang said. Its NT$40 billion (US$1.25 billion) early-warning radar system will also be able to track inbound ballistic and cruise missiles, media said.
■ HEALTH
Nurses decry low pay
A nurses’ union on Wednesday blamed the shortage of nurses in Taiwan on the low nursing care payments set by the Bureau of National Health Insurance. National Union of Nurses Associations president Lu Meei-shiow (盧美秀) said the bureau budgeted NT$19.9 billion last year for nursing care claims for more than 90,000 nurses, or a monthly average of just over NT$17,700 each. Even with the introduction of a program to improve nursing care for hospitalized patients last year, about 70 percent of nurses made just over NT$18,200 a month, less than the NT$22,000 salary new university graduates received under an internship program subsidized by the government last year, Lu said. At present, a day shift nurse cares for seven to 12 patients, while a night shift nurse cares for 15 to 30 patients, the union said. The more patients a nurse has to attend, the less time he or she can spend caring for each patient, which in turn increases the risk of injury or death for the patient, Lu said, citing foreign and domestic research.
■ EDUCATION
Hernia screening dropped
The Ministry of Education yesterday said it had sent an official document to schools across the nation to cancel a controversial policy requiring freshmen below high school level — boys and girls alike — to undergo hernia screening upon enrolment. Department of Physical Education official Lin Cher-hung (林哲宏) said a legal amendment would nevertheless be necessary to put an end to the policy. The policy attracted criticism earlier this year when parents of students attending Taipei Municipal Neihu Senior High School complained that their daughters were forced to take off their pants for the examination in front of male doctors.
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
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
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