HEALTH
CDC offers avian flu shots
The government has begun providing free vaccinations against avian influenza strain H5N1 to people at high risk of contracting the virus, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said yesterday. By the end of last month, 12 cases of H5N1 infections in humans had been reported in Cambodia, China and Egypt, Chou said. The highly pathogenic virus was also found in smuggled pet birds at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport last year, Chou added. From now until Aug. 31, the CDC will provide free shots of the H5N1 vaccine to certain high-risk groups, including staff at laboratories that work with the virus, as well as those who work in quarantine units, the Coast Guard Administration, airports and customs points, Chou said. Pregnant women are advised against having the vaccination, he added.
MILITARY
Live-fire exercise planned
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Friday said it would stage a live-fire exercise next month on a disputed South China Sea island. The drill will take place on Taiping Island (太平島) from April 9 to April 11. The island is part of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), a sprawling chain claimed in whole or in part by Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei. Among other weaponry, the drill will involve 40mm artillery and 120mm mortars, both shipped to the island last year to boost defense capability in the Spratlys, the CGA said. Taiping is the biggest island in the Spratlys and has long been governed by Taiwan, which maintains a small coast guard garrison there. Vietnam voiced anger after Taiwan moved the new, longer-range artillery and mortars to the island last year.
SOCIETY
Taipei cleanup planned
A Japanese civic group that came to Taiwan last year to help clean up the streets will relaunch the program in Taipei later this month to thank the nation for its humanitarian relief after the March 11, 2011, tsunami and earthquake in Japan. The Nagoya, Japan-based non-government organization Earth (NGO Earth) said it decided to visit the nation again because it was impressed by Taiwanese’s passion and hospitality. The group was joined by more than 200 locals who helped pick up trash in downtown Taipei last year. While last year’s event was organized by the Japanese group, the campaign this year will also be coordinated by a local organization, highlighting the friendship between Taiwan and Japan, NGO Earth said. Collection will take place between 1:45pm and 5:30pm on March 9, and will start at Taipei Municipal Song Shan Primary School.
TOURISM
Thai trains showcase sights
Trains painted with scenic attractions and Taiwanese snacks on Friday arrived at Siam Station, the largest and busiest stop in Bangkok’s mass transit system as part of efforts to promote Thai travel to Taiwan. The trains, bearing the logo “Time for Taiwan,” showcase the Taipei 101 skyscraper and the scenic Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), as well as signature foodstuffs such as bubble milk tea and soup with dumplings. The advertisements were launched by the Tourism Bureau amid a growing interest among Thais in traveling to Taiwan. Interest in visiting Taiwan has grown rapidly in Thailand over the past two years, and the country has posted a higher growth in visitors than any other Southeast Asian nation, travel operators said.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
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