FOCUS ON TREATY: The South Korean leader said that the Non-Proliferation Treaty is an important and necessary premise to bring permanent world peace
Seoul has no plans to pursue its own nuclear deterrent, despite North Korean nuclear threats, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said yesterday as he urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue aimed at exchanging denuclearization steps for economic benefits. Yoon’s comments at a news conference came hours after South Korea’s military detected the North firing two cruise missiles from a region near its capital toward its western waters. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff did not immediately confirm other details, including how far the weapons flew. The US and South Korea next week are to begin their biggest combined military training in years to counter the North Korean threat. The North describes such drills as invasion rehearsals often responding with missile launches or other provocative actions. Yoon told reporters that South Korea does not desire political change in North Korea that is brought by force, and he called for diplomacy aimed at building sustainable peace between the two sides amid tensions over the North’s accelerating weapons program. Yoon’s comments came days after he proposed an “audacious” economic assistance package to North Korea if it abandons its nuclear weapons program, while avoiding harsh criticism of the North after it threatened “deadly” retaliation over a COVID-19 outbreak it blames on the South. Yoon expressed hope for “meaningful dialogue” with North Korea over his plan and stressed that Seoul is willing to provide corresponding economic rewards at each step of a phased denuclearization process if the North commits to a genuine “road map” toward fully abandoning its weapons program. “We are not telling them to ‘denuclearize entirely first and then we will provide,’” Yoon said. “What we are saying is that we will provide the things we can in correspondence to their steps if they only show a firm determination” toward denuclearization, he added. Yoon has vowed to strengthen the South’s defenses through its
Among 100 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) reported this year, 62 were younger than six and 38 were aged six to 12, while only 19 among them had been vaccinated against COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Meanwhile, the number of daily new cases of COVID-19 is expected to increase next week as the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 spreads, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, adding that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for young children is expected to become available by next weekend. CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said that 24,873 new local cases, 204 imported cases and 33 deaths were confirmed yesterday. The local caseload is 4.2 percent higher than the figure on Wednesday last week, Chuang said. The most cases were reported in New Taipei City with 5,073, followed by Taipei (3,054), Taichung (2,966), Taoyuan (2,793), Kaohsiung (2,015), Tainan (1,669) and fewer than 1,000 cases in the 16 other administrative regions, CECC data showed. CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that two severe cases of MIS-C were confirmed, two boys aged one and three. Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, said that the total number of new COVID-19 cases this week is expected to be about the same as last week, but numbers are rising in northern Taiwan. The daily caseloads are expected to rise next week, especially in the nation’s north, Wang said. A surge is expected to begin by late this month, he said, adding that people should seek medical attention for a COVID-19 diagnosis if they test positive with an at-home rapid test. The first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for young children is expected to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow and as lot release testing might take about seven
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) applied to visit Beijing on Aug. 4 as the first volleys of China’s live-fire exercises splashed into waters around Taiwan, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said yesterday. The KMT’s application to make contact with Chinese officials in Beijing was received by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on the first day of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) live-fire drills, Huang told a Yahoo TV online talk show (齊有此理) in a segment that aired yesterday. MAC officials do not know whether the KMT arranged the trip before China announced the drills or was pressed into making it, he said, adding that officials advised the party that its timing was poor. “It was felt that [the trip] would send the wrong signal to the international community when we should be standing together in solidarity to show our determination to defend the country,” he said. Asked to explain why US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not initially include Taiwan as a stop in her Asia tour, Huang said that Taiwan had been part of her itinerary before China threatened to shoot down her plane if she visited. Washington did not disclose Pelosi’s plans to visit Taiwan until the last moment to help ensure her safety, he said. Former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋), the party’s Chiayi City mayoral candidate, said on the show that Pelosi had told him when he was in San Francisco in January that she would visit Taiwan this year. Pelosi told him that she must show her support for free and democratic Taiwan before the US midterm elections in November, which could be her last in a long political career, Lee said. Huang said that Pelosi’s visit was only a pretext for Bejing and that its drills were part of China’s long-term strategy
A wave of arson and bombing attacks overnight hit Thailand’s southernmost provinces, which for almost two decades have been the scene of a Muslim separatist insurgency, officials said yesterday. At least 17 attacks occurred on Tuesday in Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces, mostly at convenience stores and gas stations, military spokesman Pramote Promin said. Three civilians were reported injured. There had been no claims of responsibility. Pramote said that the attackers “dressed up as women, using motorcycles and in many cases using petrol bombs, throwing them into the target sites.” “It is clear that the insurgents remain committed to using violence on people, damaging confidence in the economy, creating uncertainty and undermining the government system,” he said. Police Captain Sarayuth Kotchawong said he received a report shortly before midnight that a suspect had entered a convenience store at a gas station in Yala’s Yaha District, placed a black bag inside and warned employees to leave if they “do not want die.” The workers left before the bag exploded 10 minutes later. More than 7,300 people have been killed since the insurgency began in 2004 in the three provinces, the only ones with Muslim majorities in Buddhist-dominated Thailand. Attacks have also taken place in Songkhla Province. Muslim residents have long said that they are treated like second-class citizens in Thailand, and separatist movements have been periodically active for decades. The attacks are the most high-profile ones since early April, when the Thai government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani, believed to be the biggest of several insurgent groups, agreed to halt violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
‘HONORED’: The DPP’s Lin Fei-fan said friends working in the foreign media, the diplomatic corps and at think tanks congratulated him for making the sanctions list
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday slammed China for sanctioning Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and six other Taiwanese officials for being “diehard separatists,” saying its attempt to intimidate Taiwanese would backfire. China has no authority to dictate the actions of Taiwanese, because Taiwan is a democratic nation that upholds the rule of law, and would never yield to intimidation and threats from an authoritarian regime, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news conference in Taipei. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency earlier yesterday reported that the Taiwan Work Office of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee has imposed sanctions against Hsiao and other “diehard Taiwanese independence separatists.” In addition to Hsiao, National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄), Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and New Power Party (NPP) Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) were added to the sanctions list, Xinhua reported. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) have been on the list since it was made public in November last year. The people on the list and their family members are banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau, Xinhua reported. The sanctions are unlikely to have any practical effect, as senior Taiwanese officials do not visit China. Their affiliated institutions are restricted from cooperating with organizations and individuals in China, and enterprises related to them cannot engage in business activities in the country, Xinhua said. The people on the list have gone to great lengths to “collude with external forces” in provocations advocating Taiwanese independence and pose a grave danger to “Chinese national rejuvenation,” Xinhua quoted an office spokesperson as saying. China’s efforts to deter people from speaking up for Taiwan by targeting
Washington on Monday said that US members of Congress would continue to visit Taiwan, while condemning China for restarting live-fire exercises around Taiwan amid a visit to Taipei by US lawmakers, saying it was an “overreaction.” China conducted drills in the sea and airspace around Taiwan on Monday while a five-member US delegation led by US Senator Ed Markey was in Taipei, near the end of their 21-hour visit. As of 5pm, China had deployed 30 warplanes and five military vessels in areas around Taiwan, and 15 of the aircraft had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense said. Asked about Beijing’s response to Markey’s visit at a news briefing, US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said that any response to a peaceful visit “that entails bellicose rhetoric or military maneuvers or provocative actions is totally unnecessary and an absolute overreaction.” Members of the US Congress have visited Taiwan for decades, with about 10 or more congressional delegations having visited Taiwan this year alone, and they would continue to do so, Price said, adding that the practice is in line with the US’ longstanding “one China” policy. The US has taken measured and responsible steps in response to Beijing’s maneuvers so as not to escalate the situation, Price said. However, “we won’t be deterred from flying, from sailing, from operating in the region in accordance with international law,” he added. US President Joe Biden on Friday directed the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, operating in the Philippines, to remain on station longer than planned, and announced that additional steps in support of Taiwan would be forthcoming, Price said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that 33 US members of Congress have visited Taiwan since last year, continuing what has been decades of US visits. This year alone, Taiwan has welcomed 19
The US, South Korea and Japan participated in a ballistic missile defense exercise off Hawaii’s coast last week, the Pentagon said yesterday, reviving combined drills with an eye on North Korea and China. It was the first time the three countries have held such drills since 2017, after relations between Seoul and Tokyo hit their lowest in years in 2019 amid renewed historical disputes dating to Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean Peninsula. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative who took office in May, has vowed to improve relations with Japan and deepen the US alliance to better deter North Korea, including by expanding or resuming joint drills. The missile warning and ballistic missile search-and-tracking exercise took place from Monday to Sunday last week during the multinational Pacific Dragon drills, and demonstrated the three countries’ commitment to respond to challenges posed by North Korea, protect shared security and bolster the rules-based international order, the Pentagon said in a statement. The participants shared tactical data link information in accordance with a trilateral information sharing agreement, the statement said. The US military yesterday said that it had carried out a test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, delayed to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing during China’s show of force near Taiwan earlier this month. China deployed scores of planes and fired live missiles in the Taiwan Strait after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the nation. The test showed “the readiness of US nuclear forces and provides confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent,” a US military statement said. The military said about 300 such tests had occurred before and it was not the result of any specific global event. Meanwhile, a group of German Air Force fighter jets yesterday neared Singapore in a marathon bid to fly them about 12,800km from
New St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew on Monday pledged to bolster his country’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan during a video call with Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Drew’s St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party won six of the 11 seats contested in the Caribbean country’s Aug. 5 elections to defeat the incumbent ruling coalition and regain power for the first time since 2015. In Monday night’s call, Drew, who was sworn in on Aug. 6, thanked Taiwan for supporting his country’s infrastructure development for decades and helping it combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry said in a statement. He pledged to do his best to maintain and enhance diplomatic relations during his time in office, it said. Congratulating Drew on his victory, Wu thanked the Caribbean ally for its long-term support of Taiwan’s efforts to join international organizations, the ministry said. He also said he was looking forward to working closely with the new government to advance bilateral cooperation. He also invited Drew to visit Taiwan at his earliest convenience. Taiwan established diplomatic relations with St Kitts and Nevis within two weeks of the country gaining its independence on Sept. 19, 1983, making Taiwan the first country to diplomatically recognize the Caribbean state as an independent country, the ministry added.
STRETCHED TO THE LIMIT: Sichuan Province is cutting power supply to industrial customers until Saturday to ensure grid stability amid a heat wave in Southern China
Power outages in China’s Sichuan Province would not affect the operations of Apple Inc’s iPhone and computer assemblers, such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Pegatron Corp (和碩), as their products are primarily made in other manufacturing sites in China, Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) said yesterday. Hon Hai assembles iPhones in Zhengzhou in Henan Province, while Pegatron and Luxshare Precision Industry Co (立訊精密) make iPhones in Shanghai and Kunshan in Jiangsu Province, Fubon Securities said in a report. Apple’s MacBook laptops are assembled by Hon Hai in Zhengzhou and by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) in Shanghai, while its iMac desktop computers are made by Quanta in Shanghai, the report said. “As the manufacturing hubs for those products are not located in Sichuan, we believe the new iPhone 14 series and MacBooks equipped with M2 chips will hit the market as scheduled,” Fubon Securities analysts Arthur Liao (廖顯毅) and Rita Tung (董姵君) said in the report. Hon Hai is the major manufacturer of the new iPhone 14 series with an order allocation of more than 70 percent, Fubon Securities said, adding that Apple is set to unveil new-generation iPhones next month. The Sichuan provincial government would suspend the supply of power to industrial customers from Monday to Saturday to ensure grid stability amid a heat wave that has engulfed southern China and stretched power grids to the limit, Chinese media reported on Monday. The provincial government would prioritize supplying power for residential use, reports said. Hon Hai, known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) outside of Taiwan, yesterday said that the power cuts would have only a limited effects on its operations in Chengdu in Sichuan Province. The company’s Chengdu plant belongs to its B business group, which was established in 2010 and manufactures products such as wearables, mobile devices, and Internet of Things and other
GOOD TIMING: The visit is significant, as it shows that China’s drills have not deterred members of the US government from visiting Taiwan, a DPP legislator said
Taiwan is committed to maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told visiting US lawmakers yesterday. Tsai made the pledge as she met with a bipartisan congressional delegation led by US Senator Ed Markey at the Presidential Office. The unannounced two-day trip came after Beijing held live-fire military exercises in waters around Taiwan in the wake of a visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi from Aug. 3 to Aug. 4, the first visit by a sitting US House speaker since 1997. Members of the delegation include US representatives John Garamendi, Alan Lowenthal, Don Beyer and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen. Tsai thanked Markey for voting for the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979 and helping Taiwan secure COVID-19 vaccines last year. China has been conducting prolonged military exercises in waters surrounding Taiwan, greatly affecting regional peace and stability, Tsai said. “We are engaging in close cooperation with allies to closely monitor the situation. At the same time, we are doing everything we can to let the world know that Taiwan is determined to safeguard our stability and the status quo of the Taiwan Strait,” she said. Aside from asking for the delegation’s support for a bilateral trade agreement, Tsai also said that Taiwan hopes to sign an agreement with the US to prevent double taxation to facilitate investment between the two countries. Markey told Tsai that he has been a supporter of Taiwan, and is one of the few members of congress still in office who voted for the Taiwan Relations Act. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, Markey said that he introduced bipartisan bills that support stability measures to lower the risk of conflict in the Taiwan Strait, invest in multilateral engagement with Taiwan and open the door to greater self-defense
China staged fresh military drills around Taiwan yesterday, slamming another visit by US lawmakers to the nation days after a similar trip by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi triggered a furious response from Beijing. The five-member congressional delegation, led by US Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday. “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army continues to train and prepare for war, resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolutely crush any form of Taiwan independence separatism and foreign interference attempts,” Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said. “We warn the US and the DPP authorities: Using Taiwan to contain China is doomed to failure,” Wu added, referring to Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party. “China will take resolute and strong measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) told a daily briefing yesterday after Beijing announced the new drills. “A handful of US politicians, in collusion with the separatist forces of Taiwan independence, are trying to challenge the one China principle, which is out of their depth and doomed to failure,” he said. In Taipei, the Ministry of National Defense vowed to face the latest drills “calmly and seriously, and defend national security.” “Apart from expressing condemnation [of China’s drills], the Ministry of National Defense will comprehensively monitor China’s movements in sea and air space around the Taiwan Strait,” it said. China on Sunday deployed 22 warplanes and six warships into areas around Taiwan, with 10 of 22 aircraft crossing the Taiwan Strait median line, the defense ministry said. Taiwan monitored the situation with combat air patrols, naval vessels and land-based missile systems, it added. The median line has been treated as an unofficial border on both sides of the Strait, with a breach indicating a more aggressive posture than the
THAI ASSISTANCE: The representative office in Thailand worked with local authorities to help trafficking victims return home, while one in the group has been charged
Eight Taiwanese who were lured to Cambodia with lucrative job offers only to be forced to work illegally were brought home on Sunday night in a joint effort between Taiwanese and Thai authorities, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said. Nine people — six men and three women aged 23 to 42 — boarded China Airlines Flight CI-836 from Bangkok, with assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 9:55pm and were taken to the Aviation Police Bureau for questioning before entering home isolation in accordance with Taiwan’s COVID-19 regulations. The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that one of the nine has been detained for alleged involvement with the human trafficking ring. The Thai government earlier on Sunday notified Taiwan’s representative office that 12 Taiwanese who had entered Thailand from Cambodia were believed to be human trafficking victims, CIB Deputy Director Huang Chia-chi (黃家琦) said. The office immediately sent staff to investigate and found that three of the Taiwanese were listed as human trafficking victims based on reports received by Taiwanese police, Huang said. An investigation by the Thai government identified nine of the 12 Taiwanese as victims of human trafficking, while the remaining three are still in Thailand for follow-up investigations, Huang said. The office, in collaboration with the Thai government, arranged for the nine to return home by activating an emergency assistance protocol for overseas Taiwanese and a human trafficking victim protection mechanism, he said. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that “it is abominable for foreign fraud rings to target less vigilant young people and deceive them into accepting illegal jobs abroad.” Law enforcement agencies have taken action to protect Taiwanese from human traffickers, such as stopping Taiwanese at airports before they can board flights to take up suspicious job offers, which is the priority before investigating
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday offered “audacious” economic assistance to North Korea if it abandons its nuclear weapons program, while avoiding harsh criticism of the North days after it threatened “deadly” retaliation over the COVID-19 outbreak it blames on the South. In a speech celebrating the end of Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula, Yoon also called for better ties with Japan, calling the two countries partners in navigating challenges to freedom and saying their shared values would help them overcome historical grievances linked to Japan’s brutal colonial rule before the end of World War II. Yoon’s televised speech on the liberation holiday came days after North Korea claimed a widely disputed victory over COVID-19, but also blamed Seoul for the outbreak. The North insists that leaflets and other objects flown across the border by activists had spread the virus, an unscientific claim Seoul described as “ridiculous.” Yoon, a conservative who took office in May, said that North Korea’s denuclearization would be key for peace in the region and the world. If North Korea halts its nuclear weapons development and genuinely commits to a process of denuclearization, the South would respond with huge economic rewards that would be provided in phases, Yoon said. Yoon’s proposal was not meaningfully different from previous South Korean offers that have already been rejected by the North, which has been accelerating its efforts to expand the nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles program North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sees as his best guarantee of survival. “We will implement a large-scale program to provide food, providing assistance for establishing infrastructure for the production, transmission and distribution of electrical power, and carry out projects to modernize ports and airports to facilitate trade,” Yoon said. “We will also help improve North Korea’s agricultural production, provide assistance to modernize its hospitals and medical infrastructure,
Manila is looking to buy heavy-lift Chinook helicopters from the US, after scrapping a deal with Russia worth 12.7 billion pesos (US$227.43 million) to avoid sanctions, Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said yesterday. In June, days before then-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte ended his six-year term, the Philippines scrapped a deal to buy 16 Mi-17 Russian military transport helicopters because of fears of US sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This cancellation of this contract is precipitated mainly by the war in Ukraine. While there are sanctions expected to come our way, from the United States and western countries, obviously it is not in our interest to continue and pursue this contract,” Romualdez told journalists in a virtual forum. Romualdez said the Chinooks would replace existing hardware used for the movement of troops and for disaster preparedness in the Southeast Asian country. The US is willing to strike a deal for the amount the Philippines was set to spend on the Russian helicopters, Romualdez said, adding that it would likely include maintenance, service and parts. The Philippines is pursuing discussions with Russia to recover its US$38 million down payment for the helicopters, the delivery of which was supposed to start in November next year, or 24 months after the contract was signed. The Philippines is at the tail-end of a five-year, 300 billion pesos modernization of its outdated military hardware, which includes warships from World War II and helicopters used by the US in the Vietnam War. Aside from military deals, the nation, under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, also wants increased economic exchanges with the US, in fields such as manufacturing, digital infrastructure and clean energy, including modular nuclear power, Romualdez said.
A delegation of US lawmakers yesterday arrived in Taiwan for a two-day visit, the second high-level group to visit the nation amid military tensions with China. Beijing has been holding military drills around the nation to express its anger at this month’s visit to Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto US embassy in Taipei, said that the delegation is led by US Senator Ed Markey, who is being accompanied by US representatives John Garamendi, Alan Lowenthal, Don Beyer and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen as part of a larger visit to the Indo-Pacific region. The AIT said the delegation would meet with senior Taiwanese leaders to “discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, global supply chains, climate change and other significant issues of mutual interest.” In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the bipartisan and bicameral delegation, saying it demonstrates the US’ firm support amid China’s escalation of regional tensions. Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said the visit “once again demonstrated the US Congress’ resolute support for Taiwan,” as well as its commitment to working with democratic partners to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region.” The delegation’s trip comes less than two weeks after Pelosi concluded a 19-hour visit to Taiwan on Aug. 3, the first visit by a sitting US House speaker since 1997.
REACHING OUT: The NHIA increased the amount allocated for providers offering telemedicine from NT$100 million last year to NT$170 million to aid more Taiwanese
The National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) has expanded National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage of telemedicine services to include divisions of cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology and pulmonology starting this month, in a change that is expected to benefit nearly 800,000 people. The NHIA last year started covering telemedicine services used by people living in mountainous areas and on outlying islands amid increased need during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the coverage was limited to divisions of ophthalmology, dermatology and medicine focused on conditions of the head and neck, as well as emergency treatment. The administration’s plan increases the amount allocated for telemedicine from NT$100 million (US$3.34 million) last year to NT$170 million for hospitals and clinics providing consultations remotely or making visits to patients’ homes. It is also lifting a restriction limiting participation in the telemedicine program to one hospital or clinic in each area, it said. To encourage more people to use “virtual” NHI cards, the administration said it would offer a monetary reward to hospitals and clinics that help people apply for them. The virtual cards are used by more than 285,000 people, with nearly 110,000 applying for the cards after the application procedure was simplified on May 16, it said. Medical resources are insufficient in mountainous areas and on outlying islands, where 2 percent of Taiwanese live, but only 0.75 percent of physicians work, NHIA Director-General Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) said on Saturday, adding that expanding the coverage gives residents in the areas access to more medical services. People living in mountainous areas and on outlying islands seek medical treatment more often than the national average, sometimes as much as 14.4 times the national average, NHIA official Yu Hui-chen (游慧真) said. Many of these places lack physicians who specialize in areas other than general and internal medicine, so telemedicine is needed to give people access to doctors who can
VISIT BACKLASH: The Mainland Affairs Council said that Hsia’s trip to China amid rising military threats from Beijing sends a confusing message to the international community
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) has resigned as an adviser to the Taichung City Government in the wake of a heavily criticized trip to China. In a statement issued on Saturday, the city government said Hsia, who departed for China on Wednesday and is undergoing 10 days of COVID-19 quarantine, tendered his resignation on Friday. The city government added that it respects his wishes, and expressed gratitude for his contributions and assistance to Taichung. Hsia is visiting as Beijing continues a high-pressure military and economic campaign against Taiwan in retaliation for a 19-hour visit to Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Aug. 2 and 3. Hsia’s trip has drawn criticism not only from the Democratic Progressive Party, but also from colleagues inside the KMT. The city government said Hsia told Taichung Deputy Mayor Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達) that the controversy surrounding his trip had caused trouble for the city government, so he would resign as an adviser and a member of the city’s international affairs committee. Although Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) — who is also a KMT member and had said the trip came at an inappropriate time — urged him to stay on, Hsia insisted on stepping down, the city government said. Among the critics of Hsia’s trip to China, the Mainland Affairs Council said the visit could cause confusion in the international community about how Taiwanese perceive China’s military threat. Inside the KMT, New Taipei Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) called the merits of visiting China at this moment “debatable,” as the country should be united in the face of Beijing’s rising military threat. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), who has supported Hsia’s trip, on Saturday said that Taiwan and China need a channel to engage in exchanges and communication amid escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Although he acknowledged that
Russian forces yesterday fired rockets on the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, killing at least one person, as a Russian diplomat called on Ukraine to offer security assurances so that international inspectors could visit a nuclear power station that has come under fire. The call was made after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday warned Russian soldiers who shoot at Europe’s largest nuclear power station or use it as a base to shoot from that they would become a “special target” for Ukrainian forces. The Mykolaiv region is just to the north of the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces have vowed to retake. The Ukrainian emergency service said one person was killed in shelling early yesterday of the Mykolaiv regional settlement of Bereznehuvate. As fighting steps up in southern Ukraine, concern has grown sharply about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is held by Russian forces and has been hit by sporadic shelling. Both Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the shelling, which officials say has damaged monitoring equipment and could lead to a nuclear catastrophe. “Every Russian soldier who either shoots at the plant, or shoots using the plant as cover, must understand that he becomes a special target for our intelligence agents, for our special services, for our army,” Zelenskiy said in an evening address on Saturday. Zelenskiy, who did not give any details, again said that he considered Russia was using the plant as nuclear blackmail. Russian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency Mikhail Ulyanov called on Ukraine to stop attacking the plant to allow an inspection mission from the agency. “It is important that the Ukrainians stop their shelling of the station and provide security guarantees to members of the mission. An international team cannot be sent to work under continuous artillery shelling,” he was quoted as saying yesterday
Sri Lanka on Saturday said it agreed to allow the Chinese survey vessel Yuan Wang 5 to tomorrow dock at its southernmost port, the Chinese-run Hambantota, despite security concerns raised by neighboring India and the US. Foreign security analysts describe the Yuan Wang 5, which is to dock in Sri Lanka until Monday next week, as one of China’s latest generation space-tracking ships, used to monitor satellite, rocket and intercontinental ballistic missile launches. Sri Lanka cleared the ship after the government “engaged in extensive consultations at a high level through diplomatic channels with all parties concerned,” including seeking “further information and material,” the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The South Asian island nation is experiencing political and economic turmoil after defaulting on debt for the first time and has endured months-long protests. The government previously deferred a request by the Chinese embassy on June 28 to allow the ship a port call in the middle of this month for replenishment purposes. The earlier postponement was made after “certain concerns” were raised, the ministry said, adding that the ship would not be allowed to conduct scientific research within Sri Lankan waters and must keep its automatic identification system on within its exclusive economic zone. “It is Sri Lanka’s intention to safeguard the legitimate interests of all countries, in keeping with its international obligations,” it said, reiterating its “policy of cooperation and friendship with all countries.” The Indian Ministry of External Affairs on July 28 said in regards to the ship that it was carefully monitoring any development that might have a bearing on India’s security and economic interests, and “takes all necessary measures to safeguard them.” The US has also been lobbying the government to revoke Chinese access to the port, the Washington Post previously reported, citing an unnamed Sri Lankan official. India and
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