HEALTHCARE
Flu cases drop 17.4%
The number of new patients seeking medical treatment for influenza-like symptoms dropped 17.4 percent last week, indicating the flu season is coming to an end, a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) official said yesterday. The number of new flu-like infection cases fell to 75,127 in the period from July 30 to Saturday last week from 90,917 the previous week, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said, citing the agency’s latest statistics.
EDUCATION
Language program launched
The Ministry of Education on Tuesday launched a Fun Taiwan-style Mandarin learning program, inviting people overseas to learn about and experience the nation through a combination of language learning and tours. The Mandarin On-the-Go in Taiwan program was introduced at a news conference at Taipei’s Huashan Creative Park. The program is made of four “learning Mandarin” travel packages that cover Taipei, Kaohsiung, Changhua and Hualien, the ministry said. It said it hopes the program will maximize the effects of Chinese language learning through attractive and cultural tours, while encouraging those interested in visiting the nation to immerse themselves in local culture. The four packages are to available from Sept. 1 until July 31 next year. Details of the program are available on the ministry’s Web site (www.mgt.org.tw), where those interested can also sign up for the packages.
SOCIETY
Iowa inks license deal
Iowa on Monday signed a reciprocal driver’s license agreement with Taiwan in the US state, removing the requirement of a road test for those eligible from either side. With the signing of the deal, Iowa became the 23rd US state to enter into such an agreement. Under the agreement, which took effect immediately, Taiwanese living in Iowa and holding a valid Taiwanese driver’s license will be exempt from the road test when they apply for a license there, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago said. They will be able to get a standard, Class C driver’s license in Iowa after passing a written test and a vision test, the office said. Similarly, Iowans with permission to reside in Taiwan for at least a year will be entitled to reciprocal treatment, it said.
DIPLOMACY
Mayor departs for Japan
Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) yesterday departed for Japan on a trip aimed at obtaining ideas for infrastructure and economic development and strengthening friendships. Cheng told reporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport before his departure that his delegation would visit several prefectures, paying special attention to their art, culture, tourism, energy systems and agriculture. In Osaka and Kyoto, the delegation is to look at public infrastructure, commerce and culture, with the hope of getting ideas that can be applied in Taoyuan, he said. In Kagawa and Chiba, which have had numerous exchanges with Taoyuan in recent years, the focus will be on their use of art and culture to boost tourism, as well as building relationships, Cheng said. The delegation is also to visit the cities of Chiba and Narita, which have friendly-city agreements with Taoyuan. The group is to observe their development in the areas of logistics, solar energy and tourism, he said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
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