HEALTH
Newborn catches enterovirus
The Department of Health yesterday said a five-day-old boy in a hospital had contracted severe enterovirus this month, becoming the youngest such patient in recent years, but is now in a stable condition. The baby was infected with the Coxsackie B3 virus, said Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), director of the Epidemic Intelligence Center at the Centers for Disease Control. It is suspected that the baby caught the virus from his pre-school-aged brother during a visit, Chuang said. The brother had been admitted to hospital with bronchitis, tonsilitis and symptoms of enterovirus, Chuang said. Newborns are particularly vulnerable to the Coxsackie B3 virus, he said, urging people to wash their hands before touching babies. Enterovirus infections occur all year round, he said, although the types of virus may vary. The department has confirmed 153 severe cases of enterovirus infection so far this year, 149 of which were the enterovirus 71 strain that caused two fatalities.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
MND committed to reforms
Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) yesterday said the ministry would carry out reforms in accordance with the national defense law. The ministry’s policy was to keep a balance between combat requirement, affordable finances and the number of personnel available, he said, adding that the objective was to build a concise and high quality military. The main strategy for the military was to hold back attempted landings by the Chinese military, he said. According to a ministry proposal, the current 275,000-strong military would be downsized to 215,000 in 2015, while the number of generals would be reduced from 379 to 268 at the same time.
DIPLOMACY
Customs pact inked with US
Taiwan and the US on Monday signed a pact to recognize each other’s supply chain security standards, paving the way for quicker and more convenient customs clearance. Acting representative to the US Jacob Chang (張大同) and Barbara Schrage, managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan, signed the pact on behalf of the Directorate-General of Customs and the US Customs and Border Protection. Under the pact, those certified as authorized economic operators (AEO) in Taiwan enjoy speedy customs clearance under the US Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism system, and registered US businesses get the same treatment in Taiwan. Taipei implemented the AEO system in 2009 and more than 500 enterprises have joined the program.
CHARITY
TFCF opens Kyrgyz branch
The Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF) opened its second overseas branch earlier this month in Kyrgyzstan, TFCF chairman Lin Po-rung (林柏榕) said this week. Kyrgyzstan is the world’s seventh-poorest nation, Lin said. Nearly 60 percent of the people live in poverty and 22 percent of children aged five and younger die of malnutrition, he said. Up to 40 percent of children aged 16 and below have been forced to drop out of school and join the workforce, Lin said. The service center will help handle donations from Taiwan and will provide direct services to children, Lin said. TFCF executive director Miguel Wang (王明仁) recently returned from a trip to Kyrgyzstan, where he visited government officials and schools, and presided over the branch’s opening ceremony. Wang called on the public to donate money to help poor children in Kyrgyzstan.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard