POLITICS
Tsai rejects Ko’s silence
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Thursday said that Taiwan should remain silent on “one country, two systems,” the unification formula Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) espoused earlier this year. Ko said that “it would be best to not say anything,” as discussions regarding “one country, two systems” have formed an unmanageable vicious circle. Rejecting Ko’s comment, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that it is important that the government is clear on topics that concern the interests of Taiwanese. It is equally important, she said, to avoid misjudgement and misunderstanding by members of the international community and China. Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) declined to comment on Ko’s remark, but said the majority of Taiwanese do not agree with China’s “one country, two systems” formula.
TOURISM
Yilan balloon fair touted
Visitors to Yilan County have an opportunity to view its picturesque rice fields from above when its hot air balloon fair opens this month, the Yilan County Government said on Thursday. The fair is to be held on the weekends of June 8 and June 15 in Dongshan Township (冬山), offering visitors and residents hot air balloon rides at NT$500 (US$15.82) per person, the government said. From the air, the view is one of boundless green paddy fields, unmarred by electricity wires or tall buildings, with nothing but a narrow concrete path meandering though the fields, it said. Yilan first launched the hot air balloon fair last year, attracting more than 100,000 visitors, it added.
ARTS
Troupe eyes ticket sales
Performing arts troupe Paper Windmill Theatre yesterday urged the public to purchase tickets for its performances for less-fortunate children. In offering the tickets, founder of Paper Windmill Theatre Lee Yung-feng (李永豐) said that the troupe is allowing audience members to pay for extra NT$650 tickets for children in need. Since December 2006, the troupe has staged 682 free shows in 368 townships, aiming to bridge the cultural gap between rural and urban areas, and ensure that every child has the opportunity to enjoy a live theatrical performance. However, to help nurture and encourage creativity in children, Lee said what the troupe has been doing is not enough. Providing children with access to the arts not only inspires hopes and dreams, Lee said, but could help transform the nation’s traditional crafts. Paper Windmill Theatre is performing its classic Paper Windmill Fantasy at the National Performing Arts Center in Taipei today and tomorrow.
LOTTERY
NT$300m added to jackpots
Taiwan Lottery Co has added an additional NT$300 million to the jackpots of two national lotteries to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. In anticipation of the festival, Taiwan Lottery has added an extra NT$200 million to the Power Lottery from Monday to July 25, the company said. There would also be an additional 100 lottery draws of NT$1 million in the Grand Lottery game from Tuesday to June 21, the company said. The company is also increasing the prizes of its Bingo Bingo game for 16 consecutive days beginning yesterday. This year’s Dragon Boat Festival, one of the three major traditional festivals along with the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year, is on Friday.
SAFETY
Nitrous oxide rules tightened
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced that it would include nitrous oxide, a gas often used in whipped cream, as a food additive requiring tighter control. Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, is commonly used as a whipping agent in whipped cream dispensers and coffee floats. About 30 to 40 tonnes are consumed each year in Taiwan and it is currently listed as a food ingredient, which only needs to meet hygienic standards, agency official Wei Jen-ting (魏任廷) said. Following in the steps of other nations, the agency’s inclusion of nitrous oxide in the list of food additives requiring tighter control means that it would be subject to usage standards and a maximum quantity limit, as well as other limitations and requirements. Manufacturers would also be required to obtain a registration permit for the production or sale of the gas. The agency would open the draft regulations for public comment for 60 days and expects to implement them on Jan. 1 next year, Wei said.
DEFENSE
Officials say no links to firms
The Ministry of National Defense and the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology have not purchased products from eight Taiwanese companies that have been placed on a US Department of Commerce blacklist, military officials said on Wednesday. The department on May 15 announced that Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co and 70 affiliated firms had been added to its export control “Entity List” due to regulatory breaches. Among the 70 affiliates were eight Taiwanese enterprises, including Xunwei Technologies, Huawei’s representative in Taiwan. Aside from their association with Huawei, the other seven companies were reportedly listed because of suspected breaches of a US embargo on trade with Iran.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching