HEALTH
Third brucellosis case found
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday confirmed a new case of highly contagious zoonosis brucellosis — the third this year — and warned the public not to consume raw milk or meat when traveling in high-risk countries. A 60-year-old woman who visited Malaysia in April began complaining of light muscle pain, a typical symptom of the disease, said Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), head of the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Center. The incubation period for the disease can be several months, and anyone returning from brucellosis-prone areas such as the Mediterranean, Africa, the Middle East and Central and South America who experience fatigue, stomach ache and profuse sweating should advise their doctors about their travel history, Chuang said. Two cases were reported earlier this year — a 54-year-old woman and a 72-year-old woman, who consumed raw meat and dairy products during their trip in May to North Africa and Southeast Asia respectively.
TOURISM
Flora pavilions reopening
The Taipei City Government said yesterday that three of the pavilions at the Taipei International Flora Expo’s Xinsheng Park would reopen next month. The two most popular pavilions — the Pavilion of Dreams and the Pavilion of Future — as well as the Pavilion of Angel Life will open to the public on Aug. 1, with tickets priced at NT$100, NT$50 and NT$100 respectively. To avoid huge crowds and long lines at the pavilions, people can buy tickets in advance at 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Hi-Life convenience stores. Sales of tickets for visits next month will start on Wednesday, while those for September will be available next month, the Department of Economic Development Commissioner Cheng Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) said.
SOCIETY
Retirement assets low: poll
Taiwan has the second-lowest individual retirement assets in Asia, according to a survey released on Tuesday by a global investment services firm. Each adult has only about NT$900,000 (US$31,000) in assets when he or she retires, HSBC Direct in Taiwan said. The figure is much lower than the regional average of more than NT$1.05 million and is only ahead of India. However, the survey also found that 60 percent of Taiwanese polled said they had financial plans for their retirement, which is behind only China and India in the region.
POLITICS
DPP might sue for Tsai story
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday that it has not ruled out filing a lawsuit against a publication questioning DPP Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) sexual orientation. Taiwan People Power News (TPPN, 台灣公論報) on Monday questioned Tsai’s relationship with an aide in a story titled “Unveiling the secret of Tsai Ing-wen’s sexual orientation.” “We will definitely file a lawsuit against the groundless and false content in the report,” said DPP spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁). TPPN publisher Wu Hsiao-tien (巫曉天) is married to Hou Hui-hsien (侯惠仙), a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Committee. TPPN was founded in 1947 and re-launched in 2006, according to its Web site. Given the relationship of Wu and Hou and their close connection with the KMT, it raises suspicions that the story could be “part of a series of dirty election tricks against Tsai,” Chen said.
AGRICULTURE
Hualien pork prices soaring
Officials of the Hualien County Meat Market Corp said the county is experiencing soaring pork prices because of a supply shortage of local meat. The pork shortage has led to wholesale pork prices reaching NT$75 per kilogram, up NT$10 from the same period last year, according to Hualien County Councilor Kung Wen-chun (龔文俊), who runs a pig farm. Kung said pigs usually have low appetites in the summer because of the hot weather, which means they put on weight more slowly. Meanwhile, the prices of imported feed, such as soybeans and corn, have doubled, forcing farmers to raise fewer animals, he added. Teng Kuo-hsiang (鄧國祥), the company’s marketing manager, said he will invite local farmers’ associations and pig farmers to discuss the issue of how to balance the pork market.
EDUCATION
Kinmen seeks China pupils
Four schools on the outlying island of Kinmen have invited children of Taiwanese businesspeople in China to study there, offering free tuition as an incentive. The children would have to pay as little as NT$2,000 for their dormitory accommodations and would enjoy the same resources as other students, according to the officials. The four schools signed sister-school agreements with three private schools founded by Taiwanese businesspeople in China on Tuesday at the Ministry of Education. The three schools in China now have about 3,500 students and the ministry subsidizes each student with NT$30,000 each year. However, education officials are encouraging students to enroll in the Kinmen schools, which use the same curricula as the rest of Taiwan. They said this would help the students get used to the education system in their home country.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
The bodies of two individuals were recovered and three additional bodies were discovered on the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) in Taroko National Park, eight days after the devastating earthquake in Hualien County, search-and-rescue personnel said. The rescuers reported that they retrieved the bodies of a man and a girl, suspected to be the father and daughter from the Yu (游) family, 500m from the entrance of the trail on Wednesday. The rescue team added that despite the discovery of the two bodies on Friday last week, they had been unable to retrieve them until Wednesday due to the heavy equipment needed to lift