■Travel
CKS numbers break 15,000
The number of passengers passing through the CKS Airport broke the 15,000 mark on Sunday after rising for six consecutive days, an airport official said yesterday. He said 15,472 passengers passed through the airport on Sunday. The number marked the highest point since May 12 when it dropped to 7,323 at the peak of the SARS outbreaks. It then remained under 9,000 for 25 days, breaking the 10,000 mark on June 8. The rising number of passengers indicates that the impact of SARS on travel is receding, the official said. He said the airport had 163 flights on Sunday, carrying 7,903 arriving and 7,569 departing passengers.
■ Health
Public warned about ads
The Department of Health warned the public yesterday to beware of claims that certain foods or drinks can prevent SARS infection. Officials said foods are not medicines and that they cannot prevent or cure diseases. Ever since the outbreak of SARS, advertisements have appeared for a variety of foods, ranging from pineapples, bee propolis, tomato juice, and teas to vegetables, claiming that their food products fight SARS, according to the officials. According to the latest tallies, the department has uncovered 193 instances of exaggerated advertisements from March to last month and the enterprises responsible have been fined. Companies violating advertising regulations are subject to fines ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$1 million. The department is publicizing the names of these advertisers on its Web site (www.health.gov.tw). People who wish to report suspect ads can call 2720-8777.
■ Diplomacy
Democracy group formed
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) said yesterday that Taiwan will share its democratic experience with other countries through a foundation to be inaugurated today. Chien described the Democracy Foundation of Taiwan as very important and noted that the ministry has promoted its establishment since President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) broached the idea at a high-level meeting last year. The foundation will take the form of a supra-party cooperation, with various political parties nominating members to serve as board members, while Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) will serve as chairman. Chien said the foundation will be the first in Asia and the fourth in the world. Similar foundations have already been set up in the United States, Britain and Germany. He said that the foundation will serve as a platform for more contacts with other democratic countries, will promote democratic ideals and disseminate information about Taiwan's fledgling democracy.
■ Politics
DPP delegation heads to US
A 24-member group of DPP officials left for Washington yesterday for a 10-day study tour aimed at promoting party-to-party diplomacy. Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), who concurrently serves as director of the DPP's international affairs department, led the group on the unprecedented study tour for top DPP members. Hsiao said the training program is designed to help DPP cadres better understand how the US formulates its Taiwan policy as well as the current state of the delicate Taipei-Washington-Beijing relations.
Agencies
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
Taiwan plans to cull as many as 120,000 invasive green iguanas this year to curb the species’ impact on local farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Chiu Kuo-hao (邱國皓), a section chief in the ministry’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, on Sunday said that green iguanas have been recorded across southern Taiwan and as far north as Taichung. Although there is no reliable data on the species’ total population in the country, it has been estimated to be about 200,000, he said. Chiu said about 70,000 iguanas were culled last year, including about 45,000 in Pingtung County, 12,000 in Tainan, 9,900 in
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
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