■ Politics
Hu being extra careful
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) is taking extra safety precautions after receiving intelligence reports that threats have been made to remove him from tomorrow's elections. Speaking to the reporters yesterday the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate said the safety precautions include him bringing his own food and water to campaign sites. Opinion poll results show that Hu has a slight lead over his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and People First Party rivals. On the DPP's attempt to focus public attention on his health, Hu said he will not agree to the demands he release his medical records because the information would be misused. Hu said he will file a civil lawsuit against a DPP legislator and 11 other doctors for disclosing what they claimed to be his medical history, and that he will donate whatever compensation he might receive to charity.
■ Health
AIDS cases increasing
A total of 10,414 cases of AIDS/HIV infection have been reported up to the end of last month, with the number increasing rapidly over the past year at a rate of 10 cases per day, according to data released yesterday by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on World AIDS Day. Of these AIDS/HIV cases, 9,872 are locals, officials said. Unprotected sex between heterosexual couples is the main cause of new cases and accounts for 49 percent of the cases. Intravenous drug use accounts for 41 percent, with 60 percent to 70 percent of the new cases reported this year being drug users. While the AIDS/HIV cases include infants and the elderly as old as 93, most of them fall in the 20 to 40 age group. CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ting attributed the fast spread of AIDS/HIV to the open attitude toward sex by the younger generation, the popularity of orgies, the infrequent use of condoms and the increase in the number of intravenous drug users.
■ Travel
Japanese may get 90 days
The government is assessing whether or not to extend the existing 30-day visa-free treatment for Japanese to 90 days in response to Tokyo's recent lifting of visa requirements for Taiwanese tourists, Liao Ching-pang (廖經邦), deputy chief executive officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Committee on Japanese Affairs, said yesterday. At present, 30 days is the longest visa-free period granted to any country. Japan said in mid-September that it would offer permanent visa-free privileges to travelers from Taiwan starting Sept. 26 as a belated reciprocal measure since Taiwan has long offered visa-free treatment to Japanese tourists. Liao also said that bilateral exchanges have been boosted in recent months, with Taiwan hosting eight Japanese parliamentary delegations and 30 civil group delegations during the past two months.
■ Education
Fewer students going to US
The number of Taiwanese studying in the US totalled 25,914 for the 2004-2005 school year, marking a decline of 1 percent over the previous year's level, the American International Education Foundation's (AIEF) Taiwan office reported yesterday. India topped the list with 80,466 people studying in the US, followed by China with 62,523. Taiwan ranked sixth on the list. The AIEF news release said that the foreign students generated at least US$13 billion in economic benefits for the US in the last school year. AIEF said most foreign students were studying science or business.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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