DIPLOMACY
VP visits New Delhi
Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who is to represent the Republic of China (ROC) at today’s canonizations of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, made a refueling stopover yesterday at an airport in New Delhi en route to the Holy See. The 90-minute stopover makes Wu the first incumbent high-ranking ROC official to make a stopover in India’s capital. In addition to attending the canonizations, Wu is to present Pope Francis with a portrait of the pope painted by local artist Liang Dan-feng (梁丹丰), on behalf of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Meanwhile, the Times of India reported on its front page that both India and Taiwan had tried to keep Wu’s stopover secret. The report said that during the stopover, Wu was to meet with senior Indian officials. However, the report added that no Indian officials were prepared to comment on the matter, saying only that the economic and cultural relations between India and Taiwan have been enhanced and that India is not opposed to associating with Taiwan.
HEALTH
H7N9 flu cases monitored
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring two confirmed cases of H7N9 avian influenza earlier this week, as well as anyone who has come in contact with them. Both patients infected with the disease remain hospitalized, the centers said, adding that the first case, a female Chinese tourist, is in a serious condition. While all 94 people who came in contact with the woman have tested negative for H7N9 influenza, measures to prevent the spread of the disease have been taken, the centers added. Twelve of the 122 people who came in contact with the second case, a Taiwanese businessman, were also given prophylaxis treatment, according to the centers. Currently, there is no sign of any spread of the flu, it said.
CRIME
Could-be bomber arrested
A man was arrested on Friday at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, one day after he threatened to plant a bomb at the country’s main gateway, the Aviation Police Bureau said. Police were informed on Thursday that the man, who identified himself as a college student surnamed Lee (李), had said he would plant a bomb at the airport. The man had called up a Chinese-language media organization to inform it about his plan. Police were able to track him down. They found him at the airport’s Terminal 2 and arrested him.
ENVIRONMENT
Oil refiner fined for pollution
CPC Corp Taiwan, the country’s biggest oil refiner, is to be fined NT$400,000 (US$13,212) after its naphtha cracker polluted the air on Friday afternoon when the facility’s uninterrupted power supply tripped, a Greater Kaohsiung official said. The electrical short resulted in a system failure that caused heavy black smoke to be emitted up one of the Fifth Naphtha Cracker’s flares used to combust hazardous gases, said Hsu Ju-kai (許如凱), head of CPC’s Greater Kaohsiung complex. Firemen were called to the scene and had the situation under control within 30 minutes after arriving at the factory, the local fire department said. Officials from Greater Kaohsiung’s Environmental Protection Bureau were also there collecting samples of the air, and Chang Jui-hun (張瑞琿), the bureau’s chief secretary, said toxic alkanes and alkenes were later found among the samples. It was the second time CPC was found guilty of an air pollution violation in the past 12 months, Chang said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
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