■CRIME
Taipei Hospital probed
Shilin prosecutors yesterday searched the offices of the Department of Health’s Taipei Hospital in connection with a health insurance fraud investigation. Prosecutors yesterday led agents from the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau to search the offices of Taipei Hospital and A-Spine Asia Company (冠亞生技公司). A total of seven locations were searched. Prosecutors said doctors from the hospital and company staff were questioned. Prosecutors said they suspected that doctors purchased medical equipment from A-Spine Asia for the hospital using inflated prices, and then requested the money from the Bureau of National Health Insurance. Prosecutors suspect doctors received illegal kickbacks from the deal, adding they might be guilty of corruption and forgery.
■POLITICS
Pingtung officials questioned
Pingtung County Councilor Lin Ching-tu (林清都), who was elected speaker of the council on Monday, was yesterday questioned along with seven other councilors on suspicion of bribing his colleagues to win the speakership. Pingtung prosecutors named Lin, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member, as a defendant in its investigation into the vote-buying allegations. Independent councilor Wang Chi-min (王啟敏), who cooperated with Lin in an unsuccessful bid for the vice speakership, was also named as a defendant. Lin and Wang, KMT councilors Shih Su Kuei-mei (施蘇貴美), Ko Fu-kuo (柯富國), Democratic Progressive Party councilors Pan Shu-chen (潘淑真), Chou Ming-chang (邱名璋) and Huang Ming-jung (黃明榮), and independent councilor Huang Su-ping (黃斯平) were also questioned. Prosecutors and agents from the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau searched Lin and Wang’s offices and residencies, seizing several documents. KMT Councilor Tseng Yi-hsiung (曾義雄) was also detained.
■HEALTH
CDC discloses fever cases
Taiwan recorded three imported cases — all from Indonesia — of chikungunya fever in the first two months of this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, up from one each for the same period of 2008 and last year, CDC Deputy Director-General Shih Wen-yih (施文儀) said. All three cases of the mosquito-borne disease were discovered through airport fever screenings. The chikungunya outbreak in Indonesia is very severe and he urged travelers to take proper precautions against mosquito bites. Any traveler to Indonesia who experiences symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea and vomiting should seek medical attention immediately and inform their doctors of their travel history, Shih added. The disease affects the joints and the pain associated with the disease can persist for weeks, months or in some cases years.
■TOURISM
Changshu deal expected
The government of Changshu in China’s Jiangsu Province and five Taiwanese tourism associations were expected to sign an agreement on travel service quality assurance yesterday. The agreement was to be signed during a workshop on tourism exchanges to be held in Taipei, said Lin Tsung-min (林聰敏), an executive at a local travel agency that arranged the visit of an official 59-member Changshu delegation and more than 500 tourists from the city. The group of tourists is the first visiting Taiwan under an initiative proposed last year by, the head of Jiangsu Province, that Taiwan and Jiangsu each send 100,000 tourists to the other side this year.
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
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
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
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