HEALTH
CDC urges no bird smuggling
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned the public yesterday of the health risks associated with poultry smuggling, after customs officials found 32 larks in the hand luggage of a man returning from China where H5N1 avian influenza is prevalent. Citing the WHO, the CDC said there have been 532 reported cases of avian flu worldwide since 2003 and that the fatality rate was as high as 60 percent. “Importing untested poultry from countries where the H5N1 virus is prevalent not only poses a threat to local birds, but also puts the public at a risk of infection,” CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ting (林頂) said. Health authorities are monitoring the health of 219 ship passengers and 17 other officials who had been in contact with the 53-year-old man. The live larks were destroyed as a safety precaution, Lin said.
TRADE
Shipment of cars arrives
A vessel loaded with more than 1,700 luxury cars valued at about NT$5.2 billion (US$180 million) docked at the Port of Taichung yesterday, marking the largest single shipment of cars to the port in terms of both volume and value, according to the Taichung Harbor Bureau. The automobiles on the cargo ship included 1,428 Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs, as well as 204 Porsches, the bureau said. The import tariffs on the shipment could amount to as much as NT$1.7 billion, it said. Many dealers have been rushing to import high-end vehicles before July when a proposed luxury tax is scheduled to take effect, the bureau said. In the first two months of this year, more than 1,900 vehicles were shipped to the port and the total number for the first half of the year is expected to exceed that for the same period last year, the bureau said.
DIPLOMACY
Visa-free access granted
The French government recently granted Republic of China (ROC) passport holders visa-free access to its four overseas regions — Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Reunion — five overseas administrations — Mayotte, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin — and the special collectivity of New Caledonia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Effective yesterday, ROC citizens who possess passports valid for at least six months and hold onward or return tickets can enter those places for a stay of up to 90 days without a visa. Meanwhile, Tanzania and Mozambique granted Taiwan landing-visa treatment for up to 90 days and 30 days respectively, the ministry said. The number of countries and areas where Taiwanese can enter without visas or with visa-on-arrival is now at 113.
CULTURE
Songkran set for April 10
The main celebrations of the Southeast Asian “water splashing festival” will be held on April 10 in New Taipei City (新北市). The Songkran festival, which marks the start of the traditional New Year on April 13 in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, has become one of the most important multicultural events in the nation, New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said. The Songkran celebrations, now in their 13th year, provide a great opportunity for local and foreign residents to experience different cultures, he said. For the first time, the festival will include the use of a 52m2 sprinkler fountain, instead of fire hoses, to splash people with water in a traditional good-luck ritual, he said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
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