US President Joe Biden wants 70 percent of US adults to have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine by the July 4 holiday, and has made vaccinating adolescents a key part of the next phase of the country’s immunization campaign. However, targeting US teens is a controversial move among many experts, who say that it is a serious mistake to use the world’s limited supply of doses on a low-risk population while the COVID-19 pandemic surges in countries such as India and Brazil. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech in March said that their two-dose regimen was shown to be safe and highly effective in a trial of 2,260 12-to-15-year-olds. An emergency use authorization is expected in the coming days, and Biden on Tuesday told White House reporters that “if that announcement comes, we are ready to move immediately.” The president’s address comes as the nation’s immunization campaign is stalling after hitting a peak early last month. More than 56 percent of US adults have received one or more shots, but as the rate of uptake falls, officials are devising new ways to reach vaccine holdouts. These include discounts to shoppers who get vaccinated at grocery stores, promotions for fans at sports stadiums and more vaccines at rural health clinics, Biden said. The federal government is also working on a program with pharmacies and pediatricians nationwide to reach the country’s estimated 17 million 12-to-15-year-olds ahead of school reopening in the fall. However, many experts have voiced concern whether now is the right moment to reach this group as the global situation deteriorates. The issue of vaccine disparity has been brought into sharp focus by India, which on Tuesday reported more than 350,000 new cases and recorded nearly 3,500 deaths — more than anywhere in the world. “The overwhelming majority of 15-year-olds, we know are not at high
FINDING SOLUTIONS: United Auto Workers legislative director Josh Nassar said that the chip shortage has been responsible for layoffs of ‘tens of thousands of workers’
The US Department of Commerce is pressing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other Taiwanese firms to prioritize the needs of US automakers to ease chip shortages in the near term, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said on Tuesday. Raimondo told a Council of the Americas event that longer term, increased investment was needed to produce more semiconductors in the US, and that other critical supply chains needed reshoring, including to allied countries. “We’re working hard to see if we can get the Taiwanese and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which is a big company there, to, you know, prioritize the needs of our auto companies since there’s so many American jobs on the line,” Raimondo said in response to a question from a General Motors Co (GM) executive. “As I said, there’s not a day goes by that we don’t push on that,” she said, adding that the medium and long-term solution would be “simply making more chips in America.” TSMC yesterday said that tackling the shortage remained its top priority. “TSMC has been working with all parties to alleviate the automotive chip supply shortage. We understand it is a shared concern of the worldwide automotive industry,” it said in a statement. Last month, TSMC chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said the company had been working with customers since January to reallocate more capacity to support the auto industry, but the shortage worsened due to a snowstorm in Texas and fab manufacturing disruption in Japan. Wei expected the shortage for the firm’s auto clients to be greatly reduced from next quarter. Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told lawmakers in Taipei that many countries had sought help from the government and TSMC. “However, TSMC has a commercial mechanism and must comply with commercial norms,” she said yesterday. The US Department of Commerce plans to meet with automakers
The joint statement to be issued after the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting is expected to include strong support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO and other international organizations, a senior US Department of State official told Japanese media on Tuesday. The Asahi Shimbun in a report yesterday quoted the unnamed official as saying that Taiwan’s participation would help other nations fight the COVID-19 pandemic. “Not only does Taiwan have the right to participate, but it has a lot of experience that can help all of us in the fight against COVID-19,” the official said. “It would be self-defeating to exclude them.” The report also quoted the official as saying that China dominated discussions during the second day of meetings on Tuesday. “The China issue was the most important of the many important issues we had to discuss,” they said. Ministers in attendance expressed strong concerns about China’s human rights abuses, the official said. Human rights “are not a domestic issue; it is an issue that should be acted upon in accordance with the international obligations that China has signed,” they said, citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international covenants. Attendees also discussed China’s economic coercion and increasing military activity in the South China Sea, the report said. The G7 foreign ministers’ meeting was held in London from Monday to yesterday ahead of the main summit, which is to be held in Cornwall, England, from June 11 to 13. It was the first in-person meeting of the G7 to be held since August 2019 in Biarritz, France.
The Philippines has rejected an annual summer fishing ban imposed by China in the disputed South China Sea and encouraged its boats to keep fishing in the country’s territorial waters. The fishing moratorium imposed by China since 1999 runs from May 1 to Aug. 16 and covers areas of the South China Sea — which the Philippines refers to as the West Philippine Sea (WPS) — as well as other waters off China. “This fishing ban does not apply to our fishermen,” the Philippine National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea said in a statement late on Tuesday. “Our fisher folk are encouraged to go out and fish in our waters in the WPS,” the task force said, as it voiced its opposition to China’s ban imposed over areas within the territory and jurisdiction of the Philippines. The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Manila has for years been embroiled in a dispute over Beijing’s sweeping claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea, most of which is also claimed by Taiwan. An international tribunal in 2016 invalidated China’s claims, but Beijing has rejected the ruling. Tensions between the two countries recently escalated after Manila accused China of territorial incursions by hundreds of its vessels in the resource-rich waterway. The Philippines has filed diplomatic protests against China over what it calls the “illegal” presence of the Chinese vessels, which it has said are crewed by militia. Chinese diplomats have said that the boats are just sheltering from rough seas and have no militia aboard. The task force said that it had spotted seven “Chinese Maritime Militia” at the Sabina shoal in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) on Tuesday last week, which dispersed after being challenged by the Philippine Coast Guard. Five returned two days later, but left after the coast guard returned,
VIRUS CURBS: Visiting people staying at healthcare and long-term care facilities in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan is banned until May 17, the CECC announced
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday banned visits to patients or residents at healthcare and long-term care facilities in three cities until May 17. It also reported six imported cases of COVID-19 and two cases with unclear infection sources. As the number of locally transmitted cases rises, some of whom have visited many places in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, enhanced disease prevention measures have to be implemented in the three cities, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. “Visiting people staying at healthcare and long-term care facilities in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan is banned from today until May 17, with few exceptions allowed,” he said, adding that only one person would be allowed to accompany a hospitalized patient or a care facility resident. Exceptions to the rule include when a patient has to undergo surgery or invasive therapy and has to be accompanied by a family member, or if the law requires a family member to sign a consent form or other documents. Another is when the patient is in an emergency room, intensive care unit or hospice unit, and the family has to be told about their condition, or when the patient’s condition has worsened and they need medical treatment or extended hospitalization, and the hospital considers a visit necessary and approves it. For long-term care facilities, visitors would be allowed if the resident is suffering from symptoms of serious physical and mental discomfort, such as insomnia, unstable blood pressure and irritability, and the facility cannot appease the resident, or other situations in which the facility considers a visit necessary. People are advised to avoid unnecessary visits to healthcare and long-term care facilities, and are encouraged to call and talk to patients instead, Chen said. If they have to pay a visit, they should wear
India’s COVID-19 caseload yesterday topped 20 million, in stark contrast to gradual reopenings in the US and Europe, where mass vaccinations have allowed the easing of many restrictions. More than 350,000 new cases were reported in India yesterday, a drop from the peak of 402,000 last week, giving some cause for optimism that the worst of the devastating wave might have passed. “If daily cases and deaths are analyzed, there is a very early signal of movement in the positive direction,” senior Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare official Lav Aggarwal told reporters. “But these are very early signals. There is a need to further analyze it,” he added. India’s healthcare infrastructure has struggled to cope with the huge number of cases, with deep shortages of medicines, hospital beds and medical oxygen. The wave in India — spurred by huge gatherings, including the Hindu festival Kumbh Mela — has highlighted the danger of COVID-19, which has claimed more than 3.2 million lives worldwide. Religious events are a threat in Pakistan, too, where authorities are battling a third wave of infections and urging Muslims to observe precautions during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Despite the warnings, thousands of Shiite Muslims — many not wearing masks — yesterday gathered in Lahore for an annual religious procession. Pakistani authorities have largely avoided clamping down on such religious activities in the past few months even as markets and schools have been closed. Meanwhile, leaders in Europe were looking to take further steps toward recovery with a proposal to revive international travel and tourism as early as next month. The European Commission on Monday proposed that travelers who are fully vaccinated with EU-approved shots or those coming from countries where COVID-19 is under control should be allowed to enter the bloc. The EU has so far approved the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson
Environmental groups are split over an Executive Yuan proposal to move a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal an additional 455m from the coast of Datan Borough (大潭) in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) to reduce its impact on algal reefs. The planned terminal has sparked an outcry from environmentalists, who fear that it would damage the algal reefs in the area. They have successfully petitioned for a referendum to block the project. However, support for the referendum has wavered and environmental advocates are divided on the issue, Taiwan Citizen Participation Association director-general Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said. The Cabinet on Monday proposed moving the terminal farther from the shore for a total of 1.2km and scrapping a planned turning basin to allay fears of damage to the reefs, as the new location would have sufficient depth, and forgo 21 hectares of land reclamation. Should the proposal be approved, it would delay the terminal’s completion by two years and add NT$15 billion (US$536.63 million) to the project’s budget. Ho said that while he appreciated the Executive Yuan’s efforts to find a solution, he would nonetheless support the referendum sponsored by Rescue Datan’s Algal Reefs Alliance convener Pan Chong-cheng (潘忠政). The issue has become polarized and Pan should not remain silent, Ho said, calling for more hearings on the matter to clear up lingering doubts. Citizen of Earth, Taiwan yesterday issued a statement applauding the Executive Yuan’s proposal, saying that it would have the least impact on the government’s goal of reducing carbon emissions. The proposal should be reviewed by an environmental impact assessment committee before the referendum on Aug. 28, the group said. Former Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) deputy minister Chan Shun-kuei (詹順貴) told a news conference that Pan’s concern for the reefs is legitimate, but is not backed by any scientific study suggesting that the terminal would directly harm them. Pan,
NEXT STEP? The contract chipmaker said it would decide whether to add more plants based on operation efficiency, cost economics and demand
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is planning to build several more chipmaking fabs in the US state of Arizona beyond the one already planned, three people familiar with the matter said. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, announced in May last year that it would build a US$12 billion fab in Arizona. The 12-inch wafer fab in Phoenix is expected to start mass production in 2024, the Investment Commission said in December, when it approved the plan. Three sources familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, said that up to five additional fabs are being planned for Arizona. The initial fab is relatively modest by industry standards, with a planned output of 20,000 wafers per month using the company’s most sophisticated 5-nanometer process technology. It is not clear how much additional production capacity and investment the additional fabs might represent, and which process technology they would use. TSMC last month said it planned to invest US$100 billion over the next three years to increase production capacity, although it did not give details. One person with direct knowledge of the matter said that the expansion was in response to a request from the US, but declined to provide further details. “The United States requested it. Internally TSMC is planning to build up to six fabs,” the person said, adding that it was not possible to give a timeframe. US President Joe Biden’s administration is preparing to spend tens of billions of US dollars to support domestic chip manufacturing. Under existing legislation, foreign firms are eligible for those funds, but whether they will ultimately receive them is an open question. A second person familiar with the plans said that TSMC had already made sure there was enough space for expansion when it obtained the land for the first
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to participate in a UN Security Council meeting chaired by Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) on strengthening global cooperation and the key role of the UN in harnessing international action to tackle the world’s conflicts and crises, China’s ambassador to the UN said on Monday. The meeting is “the first priority” of China’s UN Security Council presidency this month, and is to be attended not only by Blinken, but “quite a number” of other foreign ministers from the 15 nations on the UN’s most powerful body, Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun (張軍) told a news conference. Last week, US President Joe Biden told Congress about the critical importance of the US keeping up with China, which his administration sees as a strategic challenger, and proving that US democracy can still work and maintain primacy in the world. Friday’s council session also comes in the wake of a contentious meeting in Alaska on March 18 between Blinken and Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪), who took aim at each other’s country’s sharply different policies. It was the first face-to-face US-China meeting of the Biden administration. Blinken said the administration is united with its allies in pushing back against China’s increasing authoritarianism and assertiveness at home and abroad, including its actions in Hong Kong and against Taiwan, the Uighur minority in Xinjiang and in the South China Sea. Yang responded angrily, demanding that the US stop pushing its own version of democracy at a time when the US has been roiled by domestic discontent and accusing Washington of hypocrisy for criticizing Beijing on human rights and other issues. “It’s becoming more and more evident that in tackling the current global crises, multilateralism represents the right way out,” Zhang said on Monday. He
DISEASE PREVENTION: Foreigners who have visited India in the past 14 days, but do not have a valid Taiwanese resident certificate are banned from entry to Taiwan
Starting today, foreign travelers who have visited India in the past 14 days, but do not have a valid Taiwanese resident certificate would be temporarily banned from entering Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The announcement came after the center on Sunday said that all travelers who have been to India in the past 14 days, including transit passengers, would be placed in 14 days of centralized quarantine upon entering Taiwan, starting today. They would also be required to take a mandatory polymerase chain reaction test for COVID-19 upon ending quarantine, and practice seven days of self-health management if they test negative. The CECC also announced new disease prevention measures for flight crew members, after more than two dozen confirmed cases have been reported among China Airlines (中華航空) cargo pilots and staff at the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel, as well as their family members, since last month. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, last week said that the infection source might be flight crew members of foreign airlines who stayed at the hotel, where many China Airlines crew members have been quarantined upon returning to Taiwan. Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy head of the center, said that the new policies aim to clearly separate the flight crew members of Taiwanese airlines from those of foreign airlines, as they are subject to different quarantine rules. All crew members of foreign airlines would only stay in one designated hotel during their layovers in Taiwan, he said, adding that the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and the Taoyuan City Government would choose the hotel, he said. Quarantine dormitories for crew members of Taiwanese airlines would be chosen by the CAA and operated by Novotel following disinfection, Chen Tsung-yen said, adding that the hotel would
REBALANCING ACT: Mark Liu said that instead of trying to move the supply chain, the US should invest in R&D to develop experts in the manufacturing field
The chip industry in Taiwan has been called its “silicon shield” because the world needs the support of Taiwan’s high-tech industry and would not let a war break out in the region, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) said in an interview with a US television show host. Speaking to CBS’ 60 Minutes host Lesley Stahl, Liu said that as a critical link in the global semiconductor supply chain, Taiwan’s chip industry is dubbed the “silicon shield” for a reason. “That means the world all needs Taiwan’s high-tech industry support. So they will not let the war happen in this region because it goes against [the] interest of every country in the world,” he said in the interview, which aired on Sunday. However, Liu would not comment if the chip industry is indeed keeping Taiwan safe, with some foreign experts saying that TSMC and other Taiwanese chipmakers are one of the reasons the West needs to help defend the country in the event of conflict with China. “I cannot comment on the safety. I mean, this is a changing world. Nobody wants these things to happen. And I hope — I hope not, too — either,” he said. Asked about US concerns that most chips are made in Asia amid an ongoing global shortage of automobile chips, Liu said that he understood such worries, but said that the main issue is not where the chips are being made. “The shortage will happen no matter where the production is located because it’s due to COVID,” he said, referring to the pandemic. Asked about US attempts to rebalance the supply chain, Liu said that instead of trying to move the supply chain, the US should invest in research and development to produce “more Ph.D., master and bachelor students” in the manufacturing
At 96 years old, Lien Chin-ting (連金廷) has become the nation’s oldest licensed caregiver. “I am old, so I know better how to care for old people,” he said on Friday, as he demonstrated how to care for a bedridden patient. At the encouragement of his daughter, Lien said he often attends activities at an elderly-care center in Taichung. However, it was not the classes that sparked his interest, but rather the work of caregiving itself, he said. In January, he began a 97-hour course that includes 52 hours of coursework, eight hours of practical work and 30 hours of clinical practice. After completing his courses and a written examination, he received his caregiver license last month and now volunteers at the same center that inspired his journey. As he himself is of an advanced age, Lien said he would never charge for his services. Lien retired at 70, but leads an active life, going on hikes, serving as a certified Taoist cleric, and taking classes in Japanese and other subjects. “My dad has never stopped learning and exercising,” his daughter said. “He really has no issues physically.” This new chapter is not too big of a change, as Lien cared for his wife before she died about eight years ago and often helps with his grandchildren. He is now studying other aspects of professional caregiving, such as nutrition, and has obtained cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification, he added. “Now I can care for others as well as myself,” he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party lost an election in a key state he visited frequently before the recent virus surge forced him off the campaign trail, adding to growing signs of a backlash over his government’s handling of the world’s worst COVID-19 outbreak. In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress won about 72 percent of 292 seats up for grabs, while Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took 77, according to results posted by the Election Commission of India yesterday. Last month, Modi predicted that his party would win more than 200 seats in the state, which held voting over eight phases starting on March 27. Modi’s opponents won in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, while his party kept power in the northeastern state of Assam and gained the federally controlled territory of Puducherry, where it contested in alliance with a regional party. He conceded West Bengal in a series of posts on Twitter, congratulating Banerjee, while adding that BJP made gains in the state. The focus will now be how well policymakers are able to minimize the socioeconomic cost of COVID-19, said Madhavi Arora, an economist at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd. “It could also have implications for 2022 state elections,” Arora said, including the major BJP-held states of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Grim scenes of overcrowded crematoriums and pleas for oxygen have overshadowed the election in the past few weeks, with Modi coming under fire for campaigning in front of huge crowds as infections were spiraling. “As three strongly anti-BJP regional leaders have emerged victorious, they are likely to be the nucleus of the opposition challenge to Modi in the months ahead as he battles the backlash to his mismanagement of the COVID crisis,” said Arati Jerath, a New Delhi-based author and political analyst who has
Australia is reviewing whether to force a Chinese company to sell a lease to a strategically important port used by US Marines, a move that could further stoke tensions with Beijing. The National Security Committee of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Cabinet has asked the Department of Defence to advise on the ownership, Australian Minister of Defence Peter Dutton said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald published late on Sunday. Asked whether the government was mulling forced divestment, he said officials would consider the national interests. The move is likely to further hurt ties between Australia and its largest trading partner, which have nosedived since the call by Morrison’s government a year ago for Beijing to allow independent investigators into Wuhan to probe the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, China has implemented a range of trade actions against Australian goods, including coal, wine and barley. The Northern Territory government’s deal in 2015 to sell a 99-year lease to the Port of Darwin to Chinese firm Landbridge Group (嵐橋集團) for A$506 million (US$392 million) has been criticized by security experts. It came four years after then-US president Barack Obama secured a deal to base about 2,500 Marines in Darwin, which is on the doorstep of the Indo-Pacific region. In December 2015, the Australian Department of Defence dismissed concerns that the sale could undermine national security after the US queried the deal. Then-Australian secretary of defence Dennis Richardson said that worries the Chinese People’s Liberation Army could secure access to port facilities were “alarmist nonsense,” adding that there was no chance of China spying on US-Australian communications because naval vessels go silent in any commercial port. “Australia may be thinking its stocks with China are so low at the moment that it may as well do this now,” said John Blaxland, a former intelligence
HIGH-RISK GROUP: After the latest outbreak, family members of workers exposed to infection would from tomorrow be eligible for government-funded vaccines
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported four local COVID-19 cases: three family members of an infected worker at a quarantine hotel and a family member of an infected pilot. The new cases bring the number of infections involving China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) pilots and the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel, where many of the airline’s crew members quarantined, to 24. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said three of them are the husband, son and daughter of case No. 1,129, a woman in her 60s, who works at the hotel. The son is in his 30s and began experiencing sore muscles and a cough on Thursday, so he was tested on Friday and the result came back positive yesterday, Chen said, adding that 16 of his close contacts have been placed under home isolation, while 11 others have been ordered to conduct self-health management. The husband is in his 60s and began experiencing a cough, a fever and diarrhea on Thursday, and was tested on Friday, he said. The husband and wife traveled to Chiayi and Yunlin counties between April 23 and April 25 and their close contacts have already been identified, Chen said. The daughter is in her 30s, and began experiencing a cough and a fever on Wednesday and Thursday, Chen said. She had sought treatment at a clinic, and was tested on Friday, he said, adding that 111 of her close contacts have been placed under home isolation. The fourth local case is a girl under the age of five, Chen said. She is the daughter of an infected pilot, and although she did not have any symptoms, her brother tested positive, so she was tested on Friday, he said. Asked if the hotel and airline cluster was larger than the cluster at Taoyuan General Hospital in January
A total of 150 oxygen concentrators and 500 oxygen cylinders donated by Taiwan arrived in India yesterday to support its fight against a raging second wave of COVID-19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. A China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) cargo plane loaded with supplies left Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at about 7am and arrived at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at about 11am local time. “These oxygen concentrators & cylinders are love from #Taiwan. More help for our friends in #India is on the way. #IndiaStayStrong! JW,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) wrote on Twitter. The supplies are to be given to the Indian Red Cross Society, which is in charge of coordinating all medical supplies donated by foreign governments to help India fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry said in a news release. More medical supplies would be sent to India in the near future, the ministry added. India’s second wave of COVID-19 infections has devastated big cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Pune. Only about 100 Taiwanese still reside in India, as a large number of them had returned to Taiwan due to the pandemic, the ministry said. The most recent evacuation took place on Friday, when 14 Taiwanese left India on a Japan Airlines Co flight and landed in Taiwan on Saturday, it said. A Taiwanese man on Saturday became the first Taiwanese citizen to die from COVID-19 in India. The 49-year-old man surnamed Yang (楊), a manager at a technology company based in Gurugram in the northern state of Haryana, was pronounced dead after being hospitalized in the city earlier this week, said a source who asked to remain anonymous. The company has informed Yang’s family, and plans to cremate his body before Taiwan’s representative office in India sends his ashes home, the source added. Representative to India
PROSECUTORS INVESTIGATING: The 33-year-old said he was not a criminal, but had been unable to find work in China, and had fled to find freedom and democracy
A self-declared Chinese defector who late on Friday came ashore in Taichung on an inflatable dinghy has been detained in quarantine awaiting further investigation, the coast guard said yesterday. The 33-year-old surnamed Zhou (周) reportedly set off for Taiwan from Shishi in China’s Fujian Province on Friday morning on a boat equipped with a propeller and 90 liters of fuel. He reached the Port of Taichung’s western wharf at about 9pm and climbed on top of an embankment where he stayed, unsure of what to do next. At about 10:30pm, Lin Hsueh-hsien (林學賢) and his coworker heard calls coming from the embankment and discovered Zhou, who told them he had come from China on a rubber dinghy. Since he had not eaten, Lin rushed to buy Zhou food and notified his boss, who in turn notified the Coast Guard Administration and Taichung Harbor Police. Zhou told officers he was fleeing China for freedom and democracy in Taiwan, and denied having a criminal record or wanted status. He said that he was out of work and was attracted by the economic opportunities in Taiwan. Coast guard and harbor police officers yesterday said that Zhou is being held in quarantine at a coast guard detention facility while prosecutors investigate. According to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法), entering Taiwan without permission or breaking an exit ban is punishable by up to three years in prison, detention and/or a fine of up to NT$90,000. Fishers said that it would not have been difficult to pilot the inflatable dinghy across the Taiwan Strait, as sailing conditions were good over the past few days. Wang Yao-chin (王耀進), who leads a fishing association in Taichung, said that a small vessel traveling at about 20 knots (37kph) could travel the approximately 100 nautical miles (185km) from Shishi to Taichung Harbor in four to five hours. As the type of boat
Security forces in Myanmar yesterday opened fire on some of the biggest protests against military rule in days, killing seven people, media reported, three months after a coup plunged the country into crisis. The protests, after a spell of dwindling crowds and what appeared to be more restraint by the security forces, were coordinated with demonstrations in Burmese communities around the world to mark what organizers called “the global Myanmar spring revolution.” “Shake the world with the voice of Myanmar people’s unity,” the organizers said in a statement. Streams of demonstrators, some led by Buddhist monks, made their way through cities and towns across the country, including the commercial hub of Yangon and the second city of Mandalay, where two people were shot and killed, the Mizzima news agency reported. The Irrawaddy news site earlier posted a photograph of a man it said was a security officer in plain clothes taking aim with a rifle in Mandalay. Two people were killed in the central town of Wetlet, the Myanmar Now news agency said, and two were killed in different towns in Shan State in the northeast, two media outlets reported. One person was also killed in the northern jade-mining town of Hpakant, the Kachin News Group reported. Reuters could not verify the reports and a spokesman for the ruling junta did not answer calls seeking comment. The protests are only one of the problems the generals have brought on with their Feb. 1 ouster of the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Wars with ethnic minority insurgents in remote frontier regions in the north and east have intensified significantly since the coup, displacing tens of thousands of civilians, according to UN estimates. In some places civilians with crude weapons have battled security forces, while in central areas military and government facilities that have been secure for generations
North Korea yesterday accused US President Joe Biden of pursuing a hostile policy, dismissing “spurious” US diplomacy and warning of a response. Biden had said on Wednesday that his administration would deal with the threat posed by Pyongyang’s nuclear program “through diplomacy as well as stern deterrence.” The White House on Friday said that the president was open to negotiations with North Korea on denuclearization following the completion of a policy review, but Pyongyang said Biden had made a “big blunder.” “His statement clearly reflects his intent to keep enforcing the hostile policy toward the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] as it had been done by the US for over half a century,” Kwon Jung-gun, a North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, said in a statement released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). “The US-claimed ‘diplomacy’ is a spurious signboard for covering up its hostile acts, and ‘deterrence’ touted by it is just a means for posing nuclear threats to the DPRK,” Kwon said. “Now that what the keynote of the US new DPRK policy has become clear [sic], we will be compelled to press for corresponding measures.” The White House on Friday said that its goal remains “the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Washington would not “focus on achieving a grand bargain,” apparently referring to the kind of deal that former US president Donald Trump suggested was possible when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Neither would the White House follow the more standoffish approach espoused by former US president Barack Obama, she added. In a separate statement through the KCNA yesterday, North Korea also accused the US of insulting its leadership and COVID-19 measures, referring to a US Department of State news release issued on Wednesday. Department spokesman Ned Price had issued a
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