HEALTH
Smoking rate rises slightly
The nation recorded a smoking rate of 17.1 percent last year, up slightly from 16.4 percent in 2014 and marking the first year-on-year increase in seven years, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. The figure translates into a smoking population of 3.27 million last year, an increase of 170,000 from the previous year, said Lo Su-ying (羅素英), head of the HPA’s Health Education and Tobacco Control Division. While the smoking rate among men rose from 29.2 percent in 2014 to 29.9 percent last year, that female smokers jumped from 3.5 percent to 4.2 percent, Lo said. She said low cigarette prices in Taiwan are a possible reason for the increase in the nation’s smoking rate. She said that a decision by the Legislative Yuan to raise the cigarette surcharge by NT$20 in 2013 pushed the number of people seeking smoking cessation services up from 380,000 that year to 620,000 in 2014.
CRIME
Taiwanese arrested in Tokyo
A Taiwanese man was arrested at Narita Airport in Tokyo after he was found to be carrying nearly 15kg of amphetamine on Dec. 15 last year, according to Japanese media reports. The man, surnamed Chen (陳), who was traveling with a tour group, was carrying the drug in containers labeled in Chinese-language as tea, the reports said, adding the containers were distributed in his checked luggage and backpack. With a total weight of 14.9kg, it was the second-largest shipment of drugs seized at Narita Airport since it opened in 1989, according to the reports, which put the street value of the amphetamine at around ¥1 billion (US$8.5 million). Chen reportedly tried to convince the police that friends of his had asked him on the day of his departure from Taiwan to carry the packages, but that he had no idea what they contained. He is being held in detention by airport police and could face at least 15 years in prison if convicted, the reports said.
TOURISM
Air traffic hits record
Taiwan’s air passenger traffic amounted to a record high of 57.81 million trips last year, as the nation stepped up efforts to build up its aviation industry, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday. Of the 57.81 million passengers, overseas, cross-strait and domestic travelers accounted for 36.18 million, 11.85 million and 9.77 million respectively, the agency said. The figure, up 5 percent from last year, surpassed the record of 56.3 million air passengers set in 1997, CAA data show. Air traffic in Taiwan began to slide in 1997 due to the start of high-speed rail services between Taipei and Kaohsiung. In 2008, a record low of 35.23 million air passengers were handled in the nation’s airports.
TRANSPORTATION
Nangang HSR on track
The new Nangang station on the high-speed railway (HSR) line is expected to start commercial operation in mid-July, as construction work has been progressing smoothly, the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said. The station in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) is the 12th on the high-speed railway line, which has one stop roughly every 30km. Just over a month ago, three new stations were opened on the line, in Miaoli, Changhua and Yunlin counties. During an inspection earlier this week, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said the Nangang station was planned at first as a logistics station to service and resupply trains, but was changed to a regular operational station, which is expected to play an important role in the development of the Nangang area.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all