HEALTH
Steak offered to donors
People who donated blood yesterday and today will receive discount coupons for a local steakhouse chain as part of a drive to alleviate a blood shortage, the Taiwan Blood Services Foundation said yesterday. About 16,000 coupons will be distributed to blood donors at 50 designated stations nationwide, entitling them to a 50 percent discount at Tasty Steakhouse, the foundation said. This is the fourth year that the steakhouse is collaborating with the foundation to help boost blood donations. Because of the cold weather, fewer people have been willing to go outside, which has affected blood donations, the foundation said. The organizers are hoping to collect a total of 8,000 liters of blood in the drive.
TRANSPORTATION
Suhua contract awarded
The first contract on the Suhua Highway improvement project was awarded on Wednesday to Lien Jung Engineering Co of Yilan, which edged out seven contenders with a bid of NT$970 million (US$32.9 million). The construction of a 1,834m bridge over Heping River (和平溪) along the border of Yilan and Hualien counties in the east has been listed as a project priority. The awarding of the first contract “shows our determination to carry out our promise of fixing the road,” Director-General of Highways Lee Chung-chang (李忠璋) said. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held before the Lunar New Year and the bridge is expected to be completed in 38 months, the Directorate-General of Highways said. Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) promised in November that the government would complete the 38.4km project no later than 2017. Renovation of the highway gained urgency after torrential rains from Typhoon Megi last October triggered massive landslides that killed 26 people.
TRADE
Atemoya to be labeled
Exports of atemoyas will soon carry the “GAP” (Good Agriculture Practice) label to make them more easily distinguishable from other brands, the Council of Agriculture said. Last year, 99 percent of the nation’s exports of the fruit — a pineapple-flavored custard apple — went to China, Agriculture and Food Agency Deputy Director-General Yu Sheng-feng (游勝鋒) said. The GAP logo, which denotes good quality and food safety, will help Chinese customers distinguish the fruit from lower quality Chinese-grown produce, Yu said. Atemoyas are grown mainly in Taitung, on a total acreage of 2,200 hectares, with a yield of 24,500 tonnes per year, Yu said.
SOCIETY
Photographer honored
Photographer Chang Chao-tang (張照堂), who has spent more than four decades capturing images of people and places in Taiwan, received the country’s highest honor awarded to artists in Taipei on Wednesday. Chang urged the government to set up a museum of photography to help preserve the work of photojournalists and photographers and make the nation’s collective memory more accessible to the public. The National Cultural Awards, established in 1981 and distributed annually, are the oldest and the only government-organized honor that recognizes the lifetime achievements of artists from different fields. Recipients also receive NT$1 million (US$34,400). Chang, 67, is the second photographer to be given the award since 1987, when Lang Ching-shan (郎靜山) won it. Chang’s work has been exhibited in Tokyo, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul and several Chinese cities since the 1980s.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
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