■ DIPLOMACY
Chen stops not yet decided
Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said yesterday that the US had not yet responded to the issue of the arrangements for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) stopovers in the US during his visit to Central American allies that will begin on Aug. 20. Huang said that most of the press coverage about Chen's stopovers was speculation as the president's itinerary was still under review. The government will try its best to coordinate with the US on the issue, Huang said. Meanwhile, the ministry held a swearing-in ceremony for four diplomats. Representative to Thailand Roy Wu (烏元彥), Representative to Peru Huang Lien-sheng (黃聯昇), Representative to Papua New Guinea Chen Shan-lin (陳杉林) and Representative to South Africa Tu Sheng-kuan (杜聖觀) took their oath of office and will soon assume their new positions.
■ DEFENSE
English camp held
More than 230 National Defense University students participated in an English camp at Fuhsingkang campus in Taipei yesterday, as part of the military's efforts to upgrade its officers' English comprehension ability. The university organized the five-day English camp, hiring nine foreign-certified English teachers to instruct the students on making English a part of their daily lives. Fuhsingkang campus director Major General Wang Ming-wo (王明我) encouraged the students to take advantage of the camp to learn to express themselves in English. Communication is very important, especially to a military officer, he said, adding that it is a tool that an officer can use to explore the world.
■ HEALTH
Pap smear screening low
More than 40 percent of Taiwanese women do not undergo a pap smear test at least once a year, even though free cervical cancer screening has been offered by the government since 1995, a doctor at National Cheng Kung University Hospital said yesterday. Cheng Ya-ming (鄭雅敏), a doctor in the hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said that about 500,000 women around the world die from cervical cancer every year. This type of cancer also poses as a major health threat to Taiwanese women, with the number of new cases per year reaching 6,000. With some 1,000 Taiwanese dying from cervical cancer each year, it has become the leading cause of death among women in the country. He said women aged 30 to 50 form the bulk of those undergoing annual screening, with few women who have reached menopause requesting such tests.
■ HEALTH
Stores to help with first aid
Taipei health authorities are working on a plan to make the city's 2,000 convenience stores part of its first aid network, officials with the city's Department of Health said yesterday. They said the plan will see convenience store employees offered the opportunity to go on training programs so that they can be issued with first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification. They said that with appropriate training, these stores can supplement the emergency medical services provided by hospital emergency rooms and the city's Fire Department. Kao Wei-chun (高偉君), section chief in charge of medical services administration, said the government hoped the employees of at least 70 percent of the 2,000 convenience stores could have their employees qualified in CPR and first aid before the end of this year.
■ CRIME
Thai arrested at airport
A Thai woman was arrested on Sunday at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for trying to leave on a bogus passport, National Immigration Agency officers said yesterday. The 45-year-old woman, identified as Parawee Vichaivong, admitted that she obtained the false passport for NT$30,000 from a human-trafficking group. The woman was detained while preparing to board a flight to Bangkok. Vichaivong entered the country last year and began working in a massage parlor.
■ LAW
Illustrator sues phone seller
A popular illustrator and author who uses the pen-name Jimmy has sued an online Chinese mobile phone seller for infringing upon his copyright, a Chinese court news Web site reported yesterday. The case is being handled by the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing, according to www.chinacourt.org which is sponsored by the Supreme People's Court of China. In his petition filed with the court, Jimmy accused the seller, which operates through the Web site www.18900.com, of allowing its customers to download his illustrations as mobile phone themes without his authorization, the report said. They include illustrations from some of his popular illustrated books, such as Turn Left Turn Right, Moon Forget, Sound of Colors and Missing My Cat, the report said. In addition to requiring the seller to stop the unauthorized download service, Jimmy is demanding that the seller pay him 300,000 Chinese yuan (US$39,651) in compensation, post an apology statement on its Web site and pay for his lawyer fees and travel costs.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,