An inter-agency national action plan will be launched to teach more Taiwanese students and servicemen how to swim, Sports Affairs Council Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) said.
The ambitious 12-year plan, supervised by the Executive Yuan, hopes to teach at least eight out of 10 Taiwanese students, soldiers, policemen and firemen how to swim, which will dramatically reduce cases of drowning, Tai said.
“In an island country like Taiwan, it is difficult to fathom why there are so many drownings and why so few people know how to swim,” Tai said, adding that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), an avid swimmer, is the driving force behind the scheme.
Almost all major developed countries, such as Japan, France and the UK, have public policies to promote swimming, she said.
According to Tai, the ratio of swimming pools per 100,000 students between Japan and Taiwan is an eye-popping 188 to 9.6. Citing a WHO study conducted in 2001, she added that the ratio of drownings per 100,000 children under the age of 14 in Japan and Taiwan is 0.6 to 1.8.
Under the project, pools will be built, personnel will be trained and pool management will be improved from this year until 2022, so that local people will have better access to swimming facilities.
A supervisory committee under the Executive Yuan will set targets for different groups. Among them, 80 percent of school children, 85 percent of military servicemen and 80 percent of police officers will have to be able to swim for at least 50m, while 90 percent of firemen and all Coast Guard Administration staff will be required to pass a 200m test.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS