■ SOCIETY
Ministry releases statistics
A total of 7,625,000 people, including 4.5 million Taiwanese, entered and exited the country last year, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percent, the Ministry of the Interior reported yesterday. The country’s population stood at 22.946 million at the end of last November. Another 2.47 million people who entered or exited the country last year were foreign nationals, followed by 318,000 residents of Hong Kong or Macau and 260,000 Chinese citizens, the ministry said. Citizens of China, Hong Kong and Macau are routinely classified separately from other foreign nationals in statistical surveys and covered by a separate legal framework. Meanwhile, the ministry said 674,000 Taiwanese lived abroad for most of last year, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier. Of these, 45 percent were female and 55 percent male. Last year, 561,000 people who are not Taiwanese and did not apply for household registrations lived in Taiwan for most of the year, marking a year-on-year increase of 8.3 percent. Of these, 66 percent were females and 34 percent males.
■ HEALTH
Team departs for Honduras
A mobile medical team is set to depart for Honduras on Sept. 29 on a two-week medical service mission, one of 19 missions planned to strengthen bonds with the nation’s allies, the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) said yesterday. The mobile medical team, to be composed of surgeons, physicians, pharmacists and nurses from the Taipei-based Cardinal Tien Center and Taichung-based China Medical University Hospital, will provide medical care and exchange views on clinical experiences and techniques with physicians in Honduras, ICDF secretary-general Chen Lien-chun (陳連軍) said. Meanwhile, Chen said, a team from Taipei Medical University’s Wan Fang Hospital left on Saturday for the Marshall Islands on a two-week mission. The ICDF chief said the foundation expects to organize 19 mobile medical teams to 12 diplomatic allies this year to promote friendship through medical cooperation. To date, 11 teams have visited 10 allies, benefiting more than 15,000 patients in those countries. Participating hospitals around the country include Changhua Christian Hospital, the Chi Mei Foundation Medical Center and Mackay Memorial Hospital, it said.
■ agriculture
COA lauds diplomacy plan
Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) said yesterday that “agricultural diplomacy” was one of the most effective and cost-effective approaches to cement relations with the country’s allies. Chen, who accompanied Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) on a visit to Swaziland earlier this month, made the remarks after concluding the trip they made to attend the 40th anniversary of Swaziland’s independence from Britain and the 40th birthday of King Mswati III. Chen said that with 45 percent of the country covered by forests and woodlands, 70 percent of Swaziland’s population engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. Wood, paper and sugar form the main economic lifeline of the country. Taiwan, with ample talent in those areas, could provide technical assistance to the country, he said. Most farms in Swaziland cultivate sugar cane, tangerines, corn, grains, pineapples and cotton. As corn is the main staple in the southern African country, Taiwan’s agricultural technical team has focused its efforts on helping the country grow the crop on a large scale, Chen said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about