Tue, Dec 10, 2002 page3

• Taiwan quick take

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  ■Taipei zoo
  

  Australia to give koala

  The Taipei Zoo said yesterday that Australia has decided to present another male koala to the zoo following the death last week of Action. The zoo said Canberra made the decision after Australian veterinarian Dr. Vere Nicolson and his Taiwanese counterparts confirmed that Action had died of lymphatic cancer and the zoo could not to be blamed for its death. The zoo said one group of koalas suffer from a hereditary form of lymphatic cancer and Action belonged to that group. Since the zoo's two other male koalas, Harley and Patrick, are half-brothers, Australia has decided to sent one more male koala to Taipei, the zoo said. The zoo said the cause of Action's death was confirmed by a tissue-culture test.

  ■ Society

  Pampered cat causes divorce

  A judge said yesterday that he allowed a woman to divorce her husband because she refused to share a bed with the man's cat. Frequent squabbles over the cat made it difficult for the couple to live together, ruled Panchiao District Court Chen Tsai-wang. The pampered pet was a problem because it frequently wet the bed, Chen said. Although the man promised to house train the feline, the judge ruled the marriage was beyond repair. ``The couple has been estranged for a year and it would be too late to make remedies,'' Chen said. The husband had allowed the cat to urinate "on the bed and anywhere at home," the woman's brother told reporters. "He refused to put the cat in another room. This showed how he had ignored my sister's feelings."

  ■ Cross-strait ties

  `China should move missiles'

  A Taiwanese official in Chicago said in an article published Sunday in the opinion page of Indianapolis Star that China should remove its missiles aimed at Taiwan. In his article, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago Director-General Antonio Chen (陳俊賢) said that China's missiles pose a direct threat to Taiwan and a potential threat to neighboring countries. Chen pointed out that Taiwan is America's seventh most important trade partner. If Taiwan's economic production were destroyed by Chinese military force, it would have a profound effect on world trade and that if China used force against Taiwan, every economy in the region would be severely damaged immediately. He said China must understand that the deployment of missiles is neither helpful to cross-strait relations nor conducive to peace and stability.

  ■ Legislative Yuan

  Posthumous promotion urged

  The DPP legislative caucus adopted a proposal yesterday urging the government to confer a posthumous promotion to a navy officer murdered nine years ago. The caucus made the move in response to an appeal by the widow of captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), whose body was found floating near a naval base in Ilan County on Dec. 9, 1993. DPP legislative whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said that whether Yin can be promoted to the rank of rear admiral is still subject to the approval of the Executive Yuan. To mark the ninth anniversary of Yin's death, Lee Mei-kuei (李美葵) filed a petition with DPP Legislator Chou Hui-ying requesting help in solving her husband's murder. Lee said that over the years she has sought the assistance of many male politicians to help push for a solution to the case. "All those efforts were to no avail. This time, I turned to a female lawmaker in the hope that she can better understand the trauma that I have endured over the past nine years," Lee said.

  ■Human rights
  

  Chen promotes rights

  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that the government will pro-mote human rights policies and measures to build a solid foundation for pro-tecting the human rights of the nation's people. Chen made the comment at a tea party held at the Presiden-tial Office on the eve of World Human Rights Day. Chen said Taiwan's human rights protection is still in its infancy. He said he will work to build a solid found-ation for the protection of human rights in order to strengthen democracy. He also said that the upgrading of human rights involves not only legal aspects but also touches on the economy, culture and society. Chen said the government will work with the private sector to promote human rights education, training and research. He mentioned that he will take part in the opening ceremony of a human rights memorial park on Green Island today, while a human rights memorial hall is scheduled to open next year.

  ■ Health

  Dengue cases near 5,000

  The number of dengue fever cases may surpass 5,000 this week, although the spread of the epidemic has slowed since the weather in the south has cooled off, a health official said yester-day. The Center for Disease Control official said that as of the end of last week a total of 4,895 dengue cases were reported nationwide, with most in Kaohsiung and neighboring areas. Of the 150 patients who contracted the more serious variant of the disease, 15 have died.

  The official said the cold weather that is expected this week may help control the spread of the disease because the virus is less active at temperatures below 18?C. Between Nov. 18 and Dec. 6 over 500 new cases were reported.

  Agencies
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