HEALTH
Tainan sees dengue fatality
A 73-year-old man in Tainan died of dengue fever, the first death reported in the nation this summer due to the mosquito-borne disease, health officials said yesterday. The man, who had a history of diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease, died on Monday, three days after developing dengue symptoms, officials said. His wife and son were infected at about the same time, accounting for three out of four confirmed cases in the neighborhood, Tainan Department of Health Director Lin Sheng-che (林聖哲) said. According to the Centers for Disease Control, as of Tuesday there had been 775 indigenous dengue fever cases this year, the highest figure since 2010. Dengue fever is an infectious tropical disease spread by mosquitoes. In a small proportion of cases, the disease can develop into hemorrhagic dengue fever, which can be fatal.
AGRICULTURE
COA targets young farmers
The Council of Agriculture (COA) said it is planning to introduce 30,000 young workers into the agricultural sector over a 10-year period to deal with the problem of dwindling agricultural production and an aging population in the sector. The council said it is important to bring younger people into agriculture as way of dealing with issues such as declining production, aging agricultural workers and a lack of efficiency on small farms. As part of a project to create a better farming environment, the council said, it will seek to attract greater interest in agriculture to bring the young farmers into the sector. Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said the council should also plan to create specific markets for different agricultural products and devise strategies for the development of those sub-sectors.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
NO RIGHT: After 38 years of martial law under the former KMT government, the KMT is the least qualified to accuse others of harboring such intentions, DPP officials said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of creating a stir on social media by implying that the government supports martial law, adding that the KMT is the least qualified to criticize others after decades of martial law in Taiwan under the former KMT regime. After South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol late on Tuesday night declared martial law (which was rescinded six hours later), the DPP caucus issued a statement on Thread saying that Taiwan’s legislature was facing a situation similar to that in South Korea, which had prompted Yoon to declare martial law. “The South
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
‘FACT-BASED’: There is no ban, and 2 million Taiwanese have traveled to China this year, which is more than the 285,000 Chinese who visited Taiwan, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday accused China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of shifting the blame for Beijing’s tourism ban on Taiwan, continuing a war of words that started in the past week. The council’s remark came hours after its Chinese counterpart on Friday accused the government of creating barriers to the resumption of reciprocal group tours across the Taiwan Strait. The TAO accused the MAC of releasing untruthful information and dragging its feet on the tourism sector’s call to establishing ferries linking Pingtung County to China’s Pingtan Island. The MAC failed to respond to overtures to restore direct flights and raised the
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