Wed, Dec 19, 2007 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • STAFF WRITER, WITH AGENCIES
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  ■ ENERGY

  Agency gets new director

  The Institute of Nuclear Energy Research named a new director yesterday. Yeh Taun-ran (葉陶然) was promoted from within the agency's ranks, Atomic Energy Council Minister Su Shian-Jang (蘇獻章) said. Su praised former institute director Lin Li-fu (林立夫) for his contribution and said that during Lin's three-year term, the agency had repeatedly received honors from the National Science Council and the Cabinet. The minister urged the institute to continue to strive for excellence and to meet demands for nuclear energy.

  ■ DIPLOMACY

  US concerned about route

  The US government has expressed concern over China's proposal for a flight path close to the median of the Taiwan Strait, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said yesterday. Taiwan had informed Washington that Beijing was planning the route and warned it pose a threat to national security. "The US and other countries have expressed concern over the matter to the International Civil Aviation Organization," Yeh told a routine press conference. The route is a highly sensitive issue and is being handled by the National Security Agency, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Ministry of National Defense and the Mainland Affairs Council, Yeh said.

  ■ POLITICS

  Russia against referendum

  Russia is "concerned" about the nation's proposed referendum on whether the government should apply to join the UN using the name "Taiwan," its foreign ministry in Moscow said late on Monday, warning such a move risked destabilizing the region. "We are concerned that such a referendum, and in particular the interpretation of its results, would risk seriously destabilizing the situation in the region," the ministry said in a statement. "We believe Taiwan is an integral part of China ... Being a strategic partner of China, Russia states its opposition to Taiwan's adherence to international organizations. Only sovereign states can be members of these," it said. "We believe that the referendum proposed by the Taiwanese authorities is a dangerous political game ... Activities intended to increase Taiwan's sovereignty are absolutely unacceptable for Russia."

  ■ POLITICS

  Lin calls for Ma boycott

  Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) yesterday called on the public not to vote for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) if he refuses to support amendments to the Referendum Law (公投法). Lin fell short of endorsing DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), however, saying that he hoped he would not need to stump for the DPP since he is no longer a party member. Lin, who also urged the public to boycott the KMT and its legislative candidates, said he would stop his call if the KMT agrees to amend the Referendum Law before the elections. Meanwhile, the Nuke-4 Referendum Initiative Association placed a half-page advertisement in yesterday's edition of the Chinese-language China Times, calling on voters to boycott the KMT in the upcoming elections and arguing that political parties that oppose amendments to the Referendum Law do not deserve support.

  ■ ENVIRONMENT

  Human tree planned

  Kaohsiung City plans to mobilize 50,000 people to form a human Christmas tree to welcome Christmas without cutting trees, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. On Saturday evening, 50,000 residents will gather on Shidai Avenue in Kaohsiung to form the shape of a giant Christmas tree, Deputy Mayor Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said. The participants will hold up flashlights, fluorescent sticks and cellphones so that cameramen can photograph the human Christmas tree from a helicopter, he said.

  ■ BIOLOGY

  Substances found in coral

  Marine biologists have discovered several natural antimicrobial substances in a coral species endemic to Taiwan and expect to apply them in various medical treatments, sources at the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Fengkang, Pingtung County said yesterday. The project, the result of collaboration between the museum and two universities, spotted six sesquiterpenoid chemical compounds, dubbed rumphellolides A to F, in the coral species Rumphella antipathies, according to Sung Ping-jyun (宋秉鈞), the project leader and an associate research fellow at the museum. Sung noted that every coral species is capable of producing 20 to 30 natural chemical compounds, and that there is a long-standing research question concerning how the possible applications of each substance might be identified. Currently, Sung said, the six newly discovered substances are known to have antimicrobial effects, which can be helpful in terms of treatment, anti-inflammation and pain-killing drug development, the containment of bacteria and viruses, or production of cosmetics.
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