JUDICIARY
No timetable for executions
The government has not discussed when it would next execute death-row inmates or who would be executed, Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) said yesterday, denying an Apple Daily report that 10 executions were scheduled for next month, after Double Ten National Day. He said the death penalty was the government’s current policy and that any execution would be carried out only after a thorough review. He also denied reports that the ministry faced a shortage of police officials to carry out the death sentences because few want the job after more senior officers retire. The Supreme Court has confirmed 12 death row convictions this year, bringing to 51 the number of people awaiting execution.
SOCIETY
Eco-wedding contest planned
The Environmental Protection Administration announced on Monday it was throwing a “low-carbon” wedding competition that will distribute vouchers worth up to NT$100,000 to couples planning to wed this year. Couples who generate the least carbon emissions through their weddings will be awarded gift vouchers that can be used to buy environmentally friendly products, Control and Evaluation Department Director-General Yuan Shaw-ying (袁紹英) said. Contestants will first be rated based on the amount of carbon emissions released in the decoration of wedding venues, the carbon footprint of the meals served, the wedding dress and transportation used by the bridal couple and their guests, Yuan said. Finalists will then have to submit a detailed plan for their low-carbon wedding. There will be three winning couples, one each from the north, center and south of the country. Interested couples must register for the contest by 5pm on Oct. 18 at greenliving.epa.gov.tw/GreenLife/.
TOURISM
Alishan nears record mark
The number of visitors to Chiayi County’s Alishan National Scenic Area this year reached 997,347 as of Monday, edging toward setting a new record of more than 1.07 million, the county’s Forest District Office said yesterday. The office expected the number of visitors to hit a new record in the next three months, attributing the high number of visitors this year to fewer typhoons and rebuilt access roads. The scenic area, a 2,200m high mountain resort established in 1976, has received an average of 800,000 visitors a year during the past decade, the office said. The current visitor record of 1.078 million was set in 2009. However, in August of that year, the area was devastated by Typhoon Morakot and the number of visitors plummeted, the office said.
TOURISM
Tour bus deals on offer
Tourists planning a one-day or half-day trip to scenic spots throughout the country next month might want to take advantage of special deals offered by the Taiwan Tour Bus Service, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday. Tourism Bureau Deputy Director Wayne Liu (劉喜臨) said the service has been popular among both domestic and international travelers. Bureau statistics showed that 50 percent of Taiwan Tour Bus passengers are international tourists. The bureau said 30 routes had been selected and it would promote one route each day next month. Those traveling on a route on its promotion day will need to pay just NT$499, which covers both the bus fare and tickets to tourist facilities. A one-day Taiwan Tour Bus trip normally costs NT$1,500. A half-day trip costs NT$1,000. The special discount will only be available to the first 100 takers daily, according to the bureau. Those interested in the special deals must reserve their trips online at www.taiwantourbus.com.tw.
SOCIETY
Elderly celebrate senior day
More than 1,000 elderly people attended an event at the Taipei Arena yesterday in celebration of the Double Ninth Festival, the traditional senior citizen’s day that falls on Oct. 5 this year. The event, organized by the Bureau of Health Promotion, featured a nationwide competition among 26 teams of contestants, average age 74. The competition was held in response to the WHO’s “active aging” campaign, which advocates optimizing opportunities for health and participation in order to enhance quality of life as people age, bureau Director-General Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) said. Chiou said exercising can help senior citizens maintain their strength and improve their movement, which would allow them to be more independent.
AGRICULTURE
Techniques protected: COA
The government has measures in place to control the transfer of agricultural techniques to China, Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) said on Monday in response to media reports that said China has set up 25 “Taiwan farms.” The reports raised fears of a Taiwanese agricultural brain drain and transfer of farming techniques to China. “We have implemented measures to prohibit the transfer of sensitive techniques to China and restrict visits by [research and development] personnel in these skills to China,” Chen said. Taiwanese agricultural products have enjoyed patent protection following the implementation of a cross-strait intellectual property rights protection cooperation agreement in September last year, Chen said. Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) also told lawmakers that the government would continue to monitor the issue.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater