■ Labor
Increase in migrant workers
The number of migrant workers has passed the 340,000 mark, partly as a result of rapid increases in the numbers of foreign caregivers and family helpers, the Council for Economic Planning and Development said yesterday. As of the end of January, the number of migrant workers had reached 341,871, marking an increase of 14,560 from the previous year. The manufacturing industry remained the top employer of migrant workers, with 179,002 -- or 50 percent of the total -- working in the sector. Foreign caregivers formed the second largest migrant worker group, accounting for 153,396 -- or 44.9 percent of the total -- and representing an increase of 9,337 from the same period of last year. The construction industry boasted the third largest migrant workforce, with 11,782. Nevertheless, the number of migrant workers in the sector has been on the decline since it reached a peak of 45,446 in 1999.
■ Culture
Lantern Festival a success
More than 2.6 million people have visited the Lantern Festival exhibition in Kaohsiung since the event began last Saturday, statistics released on Friday by the Kaohsiung City Government showed. Officials at the city government's Economic Affairs Bureau estimated that by the end of the event today, more than 4 million people will have visited the nine-day exhibition. They explained that the figure will be considerably smaller than last year's 5.82 million, mainly because last year's Lantern Festival exhibition lasted 18 days. Six of Kaohsiung's sister cities -- Busan in South Korea, Hachioji in Japan and Portland, Macon, Colorado Springs and San Antonio in the US -- have sent delegations to participate in a series of celebrations in the port city.
■ Economics
Chinese official departs
A Chinese economic official left Taiwan yesterday after concluding a 10-day visit. He Shizhong (何世忠), director of the Chinese State Council's Economic Bureau of the Taiwan Affairs Office, refused to be interviewed prior to his departure. He's 17-member delegation was made up mostly of officials in charge of screening the investments of Taiwanese businesspeople operating in China, including economic officials and executives from the China Development Bank and the People's Bank of China who are in charge of granting loans to Taiwanese businesspeople. While in Taiwan, the delegation visited several business groups, including Cathay Financial Holdings, Shin Kong Financial Holding, Formosa Plastics Group, Uni-President Group and the Far Eastern Group. The delegation also visited three powerful Taiwanese business groups: the Chinese National Federation of Industries, the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce, and the General Chamber of Commerce.
■ Health
Saliva stress tests on offer
Liang Wei-bin (梁衛賓), director of the Health Management Center at the Lian-an Wellness Center in Taipei, says stress can now be detected using only a few drops of saliva. Liang said that stress levels affect the amount of adrenal cortisol released by the body and that excessive corticoid caused by high stress reduces the number of lymphocytes, thereby impairing immunity. The new saliva test costs NT$5,500 and results are available after three to four days, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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