POLITICS
Election notice published
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday officially published the notice of its chairmanship election, scheduled for July 20. According to the notice, potential candidates must register for the election on June 20 or June 21, and complete a signature drive by that time. KMT Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said 380,000 members are eligible to vote in the election and those interested in entering the race must obtain the endorsement of 3 percent, or 12,000, of the eligible voters to become a candidate. He pledged that the KMT would conduct the election “justly, fairly and openly.” President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has indicated his intention to seek re-election as KMT chairman. Hsieh Kun-hung (謝坤宏), a member of the party’s central standing committee, is also planning to run.
TOURISM
Ministry issues travel alert
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel advisory for the Czech Republic yesterday, advising Taiwanese traveling to the country to beware of widespread flooding there that has left seven people dead. The rain has halted in Prague, the ministry said when issuing a “gray” travel alert, but water levels remain far higher than normal and the Vltava River running through the city is still raging. The travel advisory system consists of four levels depending on the severity of the risk, with red being the highest, followed by orange, yellow and gray. At least 10 people had died in the flooding in Central Europe as of Tuesday night, according to reports, but no Taiwanese had been affected, the ministry said. Taiwanese should contact the ministry’s office in the Czech Republic on 603-166-707 if they need emergency assistance, the ministry added.
ARTS
First lady visits Russia
First lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) is visiting Russia at the invitation of the organizers of the Chekhov International Theatre Festival, according to Taiwan’s representative office in Moscow. During her week-long stay, Chow is serving as honorary leader of two renowned Taiwanese dance troupes — Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and Legend Lin Dance Theatre — who are both performing at the renowned festival, the office said. It is Chow’s second trip to Russia. She first visited Moscow in 2010 when she also served as Cloud Gate’s honorary leader. She was greeted upon her arrival on Monday by Valery Shadrin, general director of the festival, the representative office said. Chow’s visit is part of her efforts to help promote cultural exchanges between Taiwan and other countries, the office said.
ARTS
Choreographers to visit US
Taiwan is sending two choreographers to a residency program at this year’s American Dance Festival to encourage more interaction between local and foreign choreographers, the Ministry of Culture said. Tsai Yun-ting (蔡昀庭), who also directs dance movies, and Kao Chia-ying (高嘉瑩), the artistic director of a local dance troupe, are to participate in the International Choreographer’s Residency Program from Thursday next week to July 27 in Durham, North Carolina. Choreographers in the program can attend courses, participate in performances and meet other choreographers from around the world, the ministry said. Meanwhile, Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), founder and artistic director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, will be this year’s recipient of the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival award for lifetime achievement.
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,
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
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
HOSPITALITY HIT: Hotels in Hualien have an occupancy rate of 10 percent, down from 30 percent before the earthquake, a Tourism Administration official said The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled a stimulus package of vouchers and subsidies to revive tourism in Hualien County following a quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. The tremor on April 3, which killed at least 17 people and left two others missing, caused the county an estimated NT$3 billion (US$92.7 million) in damages. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is to issue vouchers worth NT$200 at the price of NT$100 for purchases at the Dongdamen Night Market (東大門夜市) in Hualien City to boost spending, a ministry official told a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in Taipei. The ministry plans to issue 18,400