■ Society
No regrets over Jackson
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Duen-yi (吳敦義) said yesterday that he has no regrets about pre-senting pop star Michael Jackson with a meritorious achievement award back in 1996, when the singer performed in Kaohsiung and Wu was the city's mayor. "We were only honoring his artistic achievements," Wu said in response to Jackson's arrest last week in the US on child-molestation charges. "We weren't honoring him for his morals. We kept the two things separate," Wu said. The award was controversial at the time. Kaohsiung City councilors Huang Chao-hsing and Lin Ti-chuan (林滴涓) burst into the award ceremony, angrily demanding to know what Jackson's qualifications were for receiving the award. According to newspaper reports, Huang kicked over a table in front of Jackson, prompting the singer to ask, "Is that guy all right?" The councilors objected to the award because of allegations Jackson had improper relations with children.
■ Diplomacy
Chien inks pact with allies
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) has signed a joint communique in Belize with his counterparts from seven Central American countries to strengthen cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The communique was signed on Tuesday at the end of the 11th annual conference of foreign ministers of Taiwan and its Central American allies, ministry officials said. The conference agenda included political and econo-mic development as well as trade, investment, education, tourism, agriculture and fishery technology, disaster relief and infrastructure construction. The participants reached agreement on a number of new cooperative programs during the one-day meeting, the officials said. Chien was quoted as saying at the meeting that Taiwan appreciates its allies' staunch support in the international community.
■ Health
Diseases list expanding
SARS, dysentery, dengue fever and anthrax would be listed as statutory diseases under draft amendments to the Communicable Disease Prevention Law (傳染病防 治法) approved by the Cabinet yesterday. The draft also lists measles, acute hepatitis A and hantavirus as statutory diseases. Media reporting false information about outbreaks of such diseases would be subject to a fine of between NT$10,000 and NT$15,000 if they refuse to correct the erroneous information. Doctors or institutions unauthorized to make public verified medical information about a statutory disease would be subject to a fine of up to NT$450,000. The draft would also empower the govern-ment to establish an ad hoc command center to prevent the further spread of com-municable diseases. Local chiefs and law enforcement officers would be required to report to local authorities about suspected statutory disease cases 24 hours after receiving such information.
■ Conservation
Shark info for fishermen
The government will step up its education of fishermen about shark conservation in order to protect fishery resources and the nation's image, the Fisheries Admin-istration said yesterday. The agency said the government has put scientists aboard some Taiwanese fishing boats since 2001 to observe deep-sea operations and collect information on shark catches. It said it has asked fishermen who catch sharks to use the entire carcass. Official said Taiwan will act in step with international convention and practices.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
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