WEATHER
First cold front forecast
The first cold front of the season will hit the nation today, bringing lows of 21oC, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Daytime temperatures will range from 23o to 31oC in northern Taiwan, which is expected to be the most affected area, the bureau said. There is also a chance of heavy rain in north and northeastern Taiwan, it said, adding that temperatures would return to normal by Wednesday.
HEALTH
New child diet tool adopted
The Child Health Promotion Society yesterday launched a new easy-to-use diagnostic tool for pediatricians and parents concerned about their children’s eating habits. The identification and management of feeding difficulties, or IMFeD — a tool based on six classifications of feeding difficulty — is already widely applied in some Southeast Asian countries, but is not yet popular in Taiwan, where 60 percent of children aged 1 to 10 do not have a balanced diet, organization president Lee Hung-chang (李宏昌) said, citing a 2006 study. IMFeD consists of a tear-off questionnaire that parents can easily complete before going to a clinic, helping physicians identify underlying reasons for feeding difficulty. Lee said that because the questionnaire narrows down the possible causes into six categories, doctors can use it as a reference in choice of treatment, while parents can see their children’s physical condition more objectively and approach the problem methodically.
TRAVEL
MOFA warns on Ecuador
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has issued a warning against travel to Ecuador in the aftermath of a reported coup attempt in the South American country on Thursday. Ecuadorean troops rescued President Rafael Correa, after a shootout with the police in the capital, Quito, the ministry said in a statement on Friday. A state of emergency has been declared in Ecuador, but all Taiwanese nationals there are safe, the statement said. The ministry also warned the public against making unnecessary visits to the South American country in light of the political instability. On Thursday, the ministry also issued a press release to alert the public about visiting France, which had been warned about an imminent terrorist attack after the kidnapping of French nationals in Niger and bomb threats in Paris.
ENVIRONMENT
No water shortage: WRA
Heavy rainfall brought by several storms last month has helped ease worries that the nation might suffer water shortages during the fast approaching dry season, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said on Friday. Water levels in the nation’s major reservoirs are now generally above 80 percent of capacity, ensuring a stable supply of water for most of the country through next spring, it said. Only four have water levels below 80 percent of their capacity: Taipei’s Feitsui Reservoir, Keelung City’s Xinshan Reservoir, Tainan County’s Wushantou Reservoir and Nantou County’s Wushe Reservoir. Even those reservoirs, however, were replenished by Typhoon Fanapi on Sept. 17 and other weather fronts in recent weeks, helping relieve water shortages and curtailing the need for water rationing around the country, the WRA said. Despite the improved water supply situation, the WRA urged the public to conserve water to help the country get through the dry season, which runs from November to April.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all