■ DIPLOMACY
MOFA mulling new UN bid
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday it was studying how to approach Taiwan’s bid for representation in the UN and will make a decision on how best to proceed this year. Department of International Organizations Director-General Paul Chang (章文樑) told a press briefing that the ministry was leaning toward making another UN bid this year, but is currently engaged in a multi-faceted evaluation of the issue. “We will make a decision by August and will proceed step-by-step in a pragmatic manner,” he said. The decision will be made on the basis of three key factors — Taiwan’s needs, the atmosphere in the international community and cross-strait relations, he said.
■ HEALTH
Travelers warned on dengue
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday advised travelers to Southeast Asia to take proper precautions against dengue fever, as a high number of imported cases has been confirmed in Taiwan so far this year. “The 90 imported cases of dengue fever reported in Taiwan indicate a dramatic escalation of the mosquito-borne disease in recent years,” spokesman Lin Ting (林頂) said. The number of imported dengue fever cases would likely reach a peak next month, the centers said. Citing the WHO’s June 15 statistics on dengue fever, the CDC said Malaysia had reported 21,707 cases, including 54 deaths. In Vietnam, the number had reached 16,555 cases, 14 of which were fatal, while in the Philippines, 6,537 cases, including 62 fatalities, had been reported. CDC statistics showed that the 90 imported cases of dengue fever this year represents a steep rise compared with the same period last year, when 64 cases were confirmed.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Andy Lau loses court fight
Hong Kong film star and singer Andy Lau (劉德華) lost an appeal against Daily Air and was ordered to pay NT$6.69 million (US$201,000) for damaging its helicopter during a film stunt, the Taiwan High Court said yesterday. The court upheld an earlier ruling against Lau and increased the amount of compensation from NT$5.1 million because it used a different method to calculate the helicopter’s value, a court spokesman said. Lau was found liable for brushing against the copter’s pitch stick before jumping out during the shooting of action flick The Island of Greed in Taiwan in 1997, the court said. The move caused the chopper’s rotor blade to hit lighting equipment. Daily Air filed the suit in 1998 but a Taipei district court only handed down the verdict last year. The court said the case had dragged on because the defendants were in Hong Kong.
■ AGRICULTURE
First organic eggs certified
Putting chickens out to forage on vegetable plots for pests has earned an organic farm an unexpected product — organic eggs. The eggs from the privately owned Tenha Organic Farm in Rende Township (仁德), Tainan County, were officially certified as organic on Wednesday, making them the nation’s first certified organic livestock product, the Council of Agriculture said in a statement. The farm had not planned to produce organic eggs, but they were a byproduct of the farm’s decision to grow organic fruit and vegetables and use chickens to keep down insects, an official said. Since the fowl are raised in the open and feed on farm-grown corn, leftover vegetables and small invertebrates, their eggs qualify as an organic livestock product, the official said. The farm produces 30 eggs a day, but plans to expand production.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Kaohsiung overhauled
Kaohsiung City is undergoing an overhaul, including an environmental cleanup and a renewal of facilities, in anticipation of the approaching World Games, city officials said yesterday. With just 13 days until the opening ceremony for the July 16 to July 26 international sports event, the city’s Environment Protection Bureau expressed hope that the city would make an excellent impression on the foreign athletes and visitors who will soon arrive. “We have carried out several measures to strengthen our citizens’ concepts of garbage classification to reduce the amount of garbage. This includes a garbage classification system, a comprehensive garbage recycling and reuse program and a drive for people to hand in their mercury thermometers for recycling,” said Liu Chun-yi (劉俊一), the bureau’s deputy director. Last year, the city’s entire garbage volume was reduced to 580,000 tonnes, compared with the previous year’s 620,000 tonnes.
■ HEALTH
Doctor receives warning
Taipei City’s Wanfang Hospital gave an oral warning to a doctor after he was accused of giving out pro-independence information to patients. Taipei County Councilor Lin Kuo-chun (林國春) said the doctor, Chen Tsai-you (陳才友), gave his patients a flier which included details of the contents of the Cairo Declaration and slogans such as “Taiwan is not the Republic of China” and “Changing the national title will ensure your safety” in addition to prescriptions. A patient had complained that a doctor should not promote his political views, Lin said. In response, Chen said he only gave the flier to a patient after the patient told him: “Taiwan is not a country.” “I gave the information to him only because he asked [for it],” Chen said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
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