HEALTH
New HIV/AIDS cases fall
The number of new HIV/AIDS patients in Taiwan last year fell from the previous year for the first time since 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). A total of 2,236 people were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS last year, fewer than the 2,244 diagnosed in 2013, the CDC said. The biggest decline was seen in the 25-to-34 age group, which saw newly diagnosed patient numbers fall to 979 from 1,016 in 2013, followed by the 15-to-24 age group, with a decline from 664 to 658 cases, the agency said. Nationwide there were 1,643 new HIV/AIDS patients in 2009, down from 1,739 in 2008. The CDC said most patients contracted the disease from unprotected sex.
WATERWAYS
Liugongjun to flow again
National Taiwan University said it plans to rejuvenate a 200-year-old waterway that crosses underneath the campus with water from the Xindian River and recycled rainwater. Part of the Liugongjun — a canal system that once ran across Taipei, but was mostly covered over by roads amid urbanization — will see sunlight again, Office of General Affairs dean Wang Gen-shuh (王根樹) said. The major hurdle that prevented the school from launching the project 10 years ago — a lack of a ready water source — could be solved with technology, he said. Plans for the project originally anticipated the need for more than 1,000 cubic meters of water per day, but new technology will limit the water’s depth to 25cm and keep it flowing with only about 200 cubic meters of water a day, Wang said, adding that the waterway will be linked up to Drunken Moon Lake on campus. The program is expected to take three years to complete at a cost of NT$100 million (US$3.13 million), Wang said.
HEALTH
Haze leave up in air: official
Whether the government should allow “haze leave” due to heavy air pollution needs discussion, Environmental Protection Administration Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) said yesterday. Taiwan is easily affected by haze from China in winter due to strong northeasterly winds, Wei said. “Taiwan should have a pre-warning system for air pollution, but the formulation of a haze leave system needs to be discussed,” he said. Wei said the Ministry of Education has formulated criteria for class suspensions in elementary schools to allow children with asthma or allergy problems to receive special care when haze reaches serious levels, while the average child would only have to suspend outdoor activities. “Whether adults should get haze leave and the criteria for such leave will need further discussion,” he said.
POLITICS
Ma visits Chiang mausoleum
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) paid his respects to former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) at his mausoleum in Taoyuan’s Dasi (大溪) yesterday, the 27th anniversary of Chiang’s death. Ma was accompanied by a group of senior Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials led by Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who has served as the party’s acting chairman since Ma stepped down last month. Ma has visited Chiang’s mausoleum every year on the anniversary of the former president’s death.
MUSIC
Violinist praises arts patrons
Two-time Grammy award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn yesterday said that she was looking forward to playing in Taiwan, describing local arts patrons as warm and knowledgeable. Ten years after her first performance in the nation, the US musician told a press conference in Taipei that she was happy to be back because the audience last time was very welcoming and knew a lot about music. Hahn is to hold a concert at the National Concert Hall in Taipei today, playing Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Opus 105, Debussy’s Violin Sonata in G minor, L 140, Bach’s Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BMV 1006 and selections from her own album In 27 Pieces. One of the most popular classical music stars in the US, Hahn won the Grammy awards for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with orchestra) in 2001 and 2008.
HEALTH
Missions aid thousands
The nation’s medical missions in Africa have benefited more than 100,000 people in Burkina Faso, Swaziland, and Sao Tome and Principe over the past two decades, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The ministry has been working closely with local hospitals to help improve medical services and public health among its African allies, said John Lai (賴建中), director-general of the ministry’s Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs. To improve medical services in the three countries, Taiwanese medical missions have been transferring medical skills and concepts to hospitals there since 1996, the ministry said, adding that more than 100,000 people have benefited from the cooperative programs. Taiwan has also sent medical groups to offer short-term medical services and training programs for medical staff in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and its six diplomatic allies in the Pacific — Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands, the ministry said. These programs have helped more than 50,000 people, it added.
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