Ultramarathon runner Kevin Lin (林義傑) and two Chinese athletes taking part in the “Embracing the Silk Road” marathon were sent to a hospital in Iran yesterday after suffering food poisoning.
The event, a 10,000km, 150-day marathon that began on April 20, is part of efforts to increase public awareness about water shortages. The event takes the runners along the old Silk Road, passing through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan on their way to Xian, China.
Staffers with The Home Expedition (THE), the company Lin founded with World Heritage magazine, said in a telephone interview yesterday that Lin, Bai Bin (白斌) and Chen Jun (陳軍), exhibited symptoms of food poisoning yesterday morning and were taken to hospital. All three returned to their hotel after being treated.
However, THE staffers said Iranian police were investigating allegations that Lin’s Iranian driver had added flunitrazepam, also known as Rohypnol, to the runner’s drinking water.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Lin Cheng-te (林政得), the chief of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council’s Tehran division, had been dispatched to assist Lin.
If Lin’s condition remains stable today, he would continue the marathon, THE staff said.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
RSS