TRAVEL
Birth disrupts EVA flight
An Indonesian woman yesterday gave birth on an EVA Airways Corp flight bound for Jakarta, forcing the plane to make an unscheduled landing at Kaohsiung International Airport. The crew of EVA Air Flight BR237, which departed Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at about 9:20am, was notified that a pregnant woman did not feel well when the aircraft was about to enter Philippine airspace, Kaohsiung airport Director Yang Mao-lin (楊茂林) said. The woman went into labor and the baby was born before the plane landed in Kaohsiung. Mother and child were taken by ambulance to the Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital and were in good condition, Yang said.
CHARITY
ummage sale at TAS
The Taipei American School (TAS) Orphanage Club is to hold its semi-annual flea market in the school’s lobby and forecourt today from 10am to 3pm, rain or shine. There will be more than 80 tables featuring a variety of clothing, toys, household items and electronics. There is no admission fee and all of the proceeds from the sale benefit needy children and orphans in Taiwan and overseas. The school is at 800, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 6, Tianmu (天母) in Taipei.
AGRICULTURE
Geese culled over avian flu
A total of 1,832 geese on a Tainan farm were culled on Thursday after an avian flu outbreak was confirmed, the Tainan Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office said. The office was notified on Tuesday of abnormal deaths on a goose farm in Gueiren District (歸仁) on Monday and immediately quarantined the farm. Tests confirmed the geese had been infected with the highly pathogenic H5 virus, the office said.
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