DEFENSE
ECM purchase on track
The procurement of new electronic countermeasures (ECM) pods for the nation’s fleet of F-16 fighter jets is being carried out in accordance with procurement regulations and legislative resolutions, Air Force Command Headquarters said yesterday. The headquarters issued a news release denying there were problems with procurement of ALQ-131 pods after the Chinese-language United Daily News reported that the number of pods has been significantly cut and the equipment has not passed flight tests, while Taiwan is being asked to sign an agreement taking responsibility for research and development costs. The air force denied any malpractice and said the signing of the agreement has been postponed. The procurement was conducted in accordance with the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法), military procurement regulations and the US Department of Defense’s security assistance management manual, the statement said.
WEATHER
Winds bring coolness
Increased northeasterly winds yesterday brought brief rain and cooler weather to the north and east of the nation, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Seasonal winds will affect the weather until tomorrow, with lows in regions north of Taichung dipping to 16?C, the bureau said. On Wednesday and Thursday, the northeastern winds will weaken, and temperatures are expected to rebound across the nation, the bureau said. Northern and eastern Taiwan will still receive brief rain, with lows hitting 18?C to 20?C, while in the center and south, lows will be between 19?C and 21?C. A warning of gusty winds has been issued for 19 cities and counties nationwide, except for Taipei and Nantou and Chiayi counties.
SOCIETY
Aging index hits 103.66
The nation’s aging index last month climbed to 103.66 after it breached the 100-mark for the first time in February, data released on Saturday by the Ministry of the Interior showed. The index, which is the number of people aged 65 and over for every 100 people under the age of 15, stood at 103.66 at the end of last month, representing 3.22 million people aged 65 and over. The ministry said an aging index of more than 100 means that there are more elderly people than young people. The elderly population currently makes up 13.7 percent of the total population, with 3,224 over 100 years of age. The three counties in which old people account for the highest percentage of the population are Chiayi at 18.29 percent, Yunlin at 17.4 percent and Nantou at 16.35 percent. At this rate, the nation is likely to see people aged 65 or older making up 20 percent of the total population by 2026, which would make it a “hyper-aged” society.
TRAVEL
Cash confiscated at airport
A Chinese man on Saturday was caught carrying US$100,000 in undeclared cash at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and had all but US$10,000 confiscated by officials. The man, surnamed Liu (劉), had arrived from Harbin, China. Liu said he was not aware of new regulations regarding the declaration of currencies that travelers can carry in and out of the nation. Liu said he was carrying the US$100,000 to start a company in Taiwan. An amendment to the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) that took effect on June 28 requires passengers entering or leaving Taiwan with more than NT$100,000, 20,000 yuan or foreign currency worth more than US$10,000 to declare it.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,