■Business
SARS measures adopted
A spokesman for the Industrial Development Bureau said yesterday that to help assuage foreign buyers' concern regarding the spread of SARS, a standard disinfection process has been designed and certificates will be issued to local companies that follow the practice. The process and certificate have been designed to help local exporters reduce foreign buyers' concern over Taiwan-made products because of the spread of the potentially deadly disease, the spokesman said. He added that businesses following the standard disinfection process specified by the bureau are entitled to attach a certificate of approval to their products.
■ Culture
Festival opens in Germany
A Taiwanese arts and film festival opened on Sunday in Munich, Germany, displaying arts, documentary films and well-known movies. A reception marking the opening of the 50-day festival was held Saturday evening. Among the dignitaries at the reception were National Palace Museum Director Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) and Taipei Representative Office in Munich Director-General Liu Jiunn-man (趙慶民). The government has sponsored similar festivals in Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Freiburg and Zurich over the past two years. The National Palace Museum plans to exhibit items from its collections from July 18 to Oct. 12 in Berlin and from Nov. 21 to Feb. 15 in Bonn.
■ Culture
Chiang exhibit launched
An exhibition of photos featuring the everyday life of the late president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his wife Soong Mayling (宋美齡) opened at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on Sunday. Chiang-Fang Chih-yi (蔣方智怡), a granddaughter of the late president, said the special exhibit focuses on the intimate relationship between Chiang and his wife instead of the late president's political career. Also on display are a collection of personal effects of the former Republic of China first couple as well as some historical documents, many of which are on show for the first time. Among the exhibits is a painting featuring the historic meeting of three World War II leaders in Cairo, Egypt in 1943 -- Chiang, US President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
■ Health
DOH clarifies SARS name
Department of Health Director General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday that medical personnel and institutions should only use the term "SARS" when they report cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome and that other terms do not conform to regulations. Fielding questions at a Legislative Yuan's Public Health, Environment and Social Welfare Committee meeting, Chen said that using the term "Chinese pneumonia" to refer to SARS when reporting cases to the department is against the department's regulations. He was responding to questions from the KMT and PFP, who asked if the term "Chinese pneumonia" to describe SARS was accurate and within regulations. Chen said that in private, doctors can refer to the disease according to their personal preferences, but pointed out that they should use the official term when reporting SARS cases.
Agencies
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
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