■ Society
Taipei reviews health
Taipei City's Department of Health yesterday announced its achievements in the past year. Under new department director Song Yien-ren (宋晏仁), 21 new services have been initiated, it said. Within the community, initiatives have included the free delivery of medicines to the homes of the mentally and physically disabled, the establishment of counseling services, anti-smoking campaigns and services, and the provision of physical therapy. To protect the health of consumers, sampling of a variety of goods such as food, medicines and cosmetic products has been routinely carried out. Additionally, self-management of trades related to food has been promoted, and do-it-yourself methods have been introduced to the public to test for the presence of hazardous substances in food products.
■ Politics
Legislature may sit longer
The legislature may extend the current legislative session to Jan. 13 and reconvene on Feb. 21. The legal term for the legislature's fall session begins in September and ends in December, while that for the spring session commences in February and concludes in May. Both sessions can be extended if necessary. Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said that lawmakers reached a preliminary consensus yesterday during a cross-party negotiation called and chaired by him to discuss next year's government budget. Another round of cross-party talks is scheduled for this morning to map out more details since Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) representatives failed to attend yesterday's meeting.
■ Education
Two universities to merge
Two universities in Taichung are expected to merge by August 2007 to become the second largest university in Taiwan in terms of enrollment, behind only National Taiwan University in Taipei City. National Chung Hsin University and National Taichung University, formerly known as National Taichung Teachers College, have agreed to a merger at the recommendation of the Ministry of Education, and are now working toward this goal. However, the two sides have not yet agreed on a new name for the university following the merger, although ministry officials have suggested that the expanded university be named "Taichung Chung Hsin University."
■ Politics
Acting Taitung chief sworn in
Secretary-General of the Taitung County Government Lai Shun-hsien (賴順賢) was sworn in as acting Taitung County commissioner yesterday, amid protests staged by supporters of ousted commissioner Wu Chun-li (吳俊立) and county councilors. County councilors friendly to Wu refused to recognize Lai, saying that they were not invited to witness Lai's swearing-in ceremony yesterday. Wu's campaign manager also presented a petition letter to Deputy Interior Minister Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎), who supervised the ceremony. Wu was immediately suspended from his post when he took the oath of office on Dec. 20 and appointed his wife Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) as his deputy. Wu has been convicted of corruption by the High Court but is appealing the ruling. He has also been charged with vote-buying but is out on NT$1 million (US$29,800) bail. Despite Wu's suspension, he can still run in a by-election by resigning and retaking the oath of office if re-elected. Kuang, who was receiving guests during the protests, said that she would still come to work today.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
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