■ Entertainment
TVBS defends top model
TVBS yesterday leapt to the defense of top model Lin Chi-ling (林志玲), whom angry Chinese have accused of being insensitive about Japan's militaristic past. Recent postings on Chinese Web sites and in chat rooms berated Lin for donning a Japanese military officer's hat while filming a TVBS program on tourist sites in Tokyo. But TVBS said Lin was just wearing a train conductor's cap. "Lin donned the cap after picking it up on the train,'' the station said in a statement. ``The Chinese have overreacted ... as Japan has long ceased to have military officers." Pictures of a smiling Lin wearing the green cap were posted on Chinese Web site sohu.com, and angry Chinese berated Lin, saying "shame" and "we despise you" in Internet chat rooms, according to Taiwanese newspapers.
■ Society
Killers `save' lives
Two Kaohsiung brothers executed on Monday for a homicide they jointly committed helped eight patients posthumously yesterday through organ donations. Lin Meng-kai (林盟凱) and Lin Hsin-hung (林信宏), who were sentenced to death for murdering one man and critically injuring another four years ago, signed organ donation consent forms prior to their execution at a prison in Kaohsiung County. Their bodies were sent to three medical centers around Kaohsiung on Monday night, where a heart, a liver, four kidneys and two corneas were removed and transplanted into eight patients the next day.
■ Society
Chen opens drug museum
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) officiated at an inaugural ceremony yesterday for the nation's first anti-narcotics museum. The museum, built at a cost of about NT$10 million (US$302,000), is housed in the head office building of the Bureau of Investigation in Sindian, suburban Taipei, and aims to educate the public, especially school children, about the harmful effects of substance abuse. On display will be facts about how the Chinese fought against narcotics, beginning with the First Opium War of 1839-1842 up until today. In one corner of the museum is a complete set of machines and equipment for manufacturing amphetamines and the tools used by drug traffickers and smugglers, such as shoes with the soles hollowed out and drug balls in plastic or condoms to be swallowed by "mules." Visitors can use touch screens to activate the light and sound system and feel what it is like in a dimly lit night club where people who have taken ecstasy are dancing to loud music amid the smell of marijuana.
■ Health
Bird-flu exercises held
A drill involving over 20 governmental bodies about actions to be taken if the bird flu epidemic reaches stages B and C took place yesterday. Stage B corresponds to when there are human cases of bird flu in the country and stage C is reached when there is widespread human-to-human transmission in the country. At present, Taiwan is a bird flu-free zone and at a "0" stage of alert. Shih Wen-yi (施文儀), said that drills were fundamental to being ready to take action and to facilitate inter-departmental cooperation if an outbreak occurs. Chairman of the Council of Labor Affairs Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said, "An important part of preparation involves strengthening the psychological framework of our society." Director of the Department of Health Hou Sheng-mou (侯勝茂) said that defense against bird flu was a top priority of the department and that the public "must have confidence."
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
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