SEISMOLOGY
Quake strikes near Taoyuan
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck the north at 4:22pm yesterday, but no casualties were reported. The earthquake’s center was located 27km south of Taoyuan County Hall at a depth of 6.7km, the Central Weather Bureau said. The strongest shaking, with an intensity of 4, was felt in Jhubei City (竹北) in Hsinchu County. An aftershock with a magnitude of 3.4 struck in the same area shortly afterward. A total of 32 earthquakes have rocked Taiwan so far this month. The largest earthquake this year, of magnitude 6.5, hit on Sunday.
HEALTH
Dumplings under scrutiny
Nearly half of the dried daikon slivers used in rice dumplings recently checked by New Taipei City (新北市) health authorities were found to contain excessive levels of preservatives, consumption of which could damage the liver over the long term, an official said yesterday. In a check conducted late last month on the ingredients used in rice dumplings, traditionally consumed during the Dragon Boat Festival, health inspectors found that 47 percent of the dried daikon — a kind of radish — checked contained excessive levels of benzoic acid, a preservative. Some were found to contain levels as high as seven times the permitted amount, which is 0.6g per kilogram of food, a public health official said. Intake of benzoic acid, which inhibits bacterial growth, can reduce appetite and even damage the liver over the long term, the official said.
HEALTH
Dieters ignoring exercise
Taiwanese are more interested in losing weight through dieting than through exercise, a study by the Bureau of Health Promotion showed yesterday. While 56.4 percent of respondents seeking diet consultations asked questions about healthy eating, only 28.5 percent were concerned about how exercise could keep them in shape, the survey showed. The study showed that most people wanted to know about dietary guidelines, the six basic categories of nutrients, fast-food consumption and daily caloric intake. The most commonly asked questions were whether people could eat sweet fruit, what food should be chosen when dining out and the calorie allowance per day, a bureau official said. Such questions can be answered by calling a free hotline, the official said.
HEALTH
Twin exhibitions open today
Two international medical exhibitions featuring the latest healthcare products will open at a shared venue today, with more than 55,000 visitors expected to attend the events, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council said yesterday. The highlight of the exhibitions will be innovative medical equipment such as an ultra-light wheelchair that weighs less than 9kg, said Sue Lu, an official with the council, the event’s organizer. A unique “experience zone” equipped with medical apparatus and instruments will be set up for interested members of the public, Lu said. Last year, the shows drew 55,000 consumers and businesspeople from home and abroad, and the number is expected to increase this year because of a 10 percent growth in the number of exhibitors, she said. A total of 440 manufacturers have already registered to run 770 stalls at the Taiwan International Medical and Health Exhibition and the Taiwan International Senior Lifestyle and Healthcare Show, she said. The free shows run from today through Sunday at the Taipei World Trade Center.
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,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods