■ Cross-strait Ties
UNI plans ferry link
UNI Airways Corp is planning to start a joint venture later this month with a Xiamen-based ferry company to transport Taiwanese businesspeople traveling between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, according to a company spokesman. The joint venture, to be launched on Feb. 16 under the "small three links" framework, will offer a sea-air round trip ticket for NT$5,200 for travelers between Xiamen and destinations on Taiwan proper via Kinmen, the spokesman said. Passengers will first ferry between Xiamen and Kinmen before flying to on Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan or Chiayi aboard a UNI airplane, he said.
■ Environment
Dead whale was paralyzed
A scientist said that a sperm whale that was beached on the western coast last month apparently hit a ship and injured the nerves in its spine before it died, a newspaper reported yesterday. Biologist Wang Chien-ping (王建平) based his theory on an autopsy he has been performing on the 17m-long whale since it was found Jan. 24 off Yunlin County's coast, the newspaper said. Wang, who teaches at National Cheng Kung University, said that the nerves on a section of the whale's spine were severed, the paper reported. The damage apparently paralyzed the mammal, causing it to drift onto the coast, he said. Wang thought that the whale must have been injured in a collision with a large ship about one or two weeks before it was beached, the paper said. An analysis of the skeleton showed that its age was between 50 and 60, he said.
■ Health
Chen urges blood donations
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) urged people yesterday to donate blood to help relieve a serious blood shortage. He made the appeal during a visit to Taipei City's blood donation center. Chen said he had originally intended to donate blood himself. However, his blood was rejected as he had visited Panama -- a malaria-endemic area -- less than a year ago. Chen visited Panama last November and government regulations bar those who have visited a communicable disease-affected area from donating blood within a year of their return. "I feel regret that I cannot donate blood this time around," Chen said, adding that he will instead encourage the Presidential Office staff to donate blood in the hopes of inspiring others to follow suit. Chen said donating blood is both an act of self-interest and of altruism that can help boost social harmony. "Through donating blood, we can help save our own lives, those of our families and those of other people," he said. "Let us be happy blood donors."
■ Health
CLA ponders checks
With the number of people dying of bird flu virus in Southeast Asia rising, the Council of Labor Affairs may consider preventive measures to prevent foreign workers from bringing in the disease, Chairwoman Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday. Chen said the council may consider adopting preventive measures similar to the ones taken during the height of the outbreaks of SARS last year for workers from Southeast Asian countries that have been identified as avian flu-affected areas by the World Health Organization. Implementation, however, will be worked out after the council communicates with the Department of Health, Chen said.
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
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