HEALTH
Blood bank seeks donations
The Taiwan Blood Services Foundation’s blood bank is running low on supplies and the government is calling for more donations. The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday said that according to the foundation’s statistics as of Friday, it has only four-and-a-half days (27,403 bags) of supplies left, which is enough to meet normal operating demands from hospitals, but still less than usual, and it hopes to increase the amount to ensure an adequate supply for the Lunar New Year holiday. The foundation said a low supply situation often occurs at this time of the year, and is likely associated with cold weather or more sick people being ineligible to donate blood.
TRAVEL
Men caught with cash
A man was on Friday caught allegedly trying to smuggle a large sum of New Taiwan dollars out of the nation at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Aviation police said the 66-year-old man, surnamed Yu (俞), was scheduled to take a 2:15pm flight to Hong Kong, but was stopped at an X-ray check and discovered to be carrying NT$10.5 million (US$311,526) hidden inside a fruit gift box. On Thursday, another man, surnamed Wang (王), was also caught with about NT$1.5 million hidden in a special belt and stockings. The 41-year-old man said he wanted to use the money to buy groceries in Hong Kong. The law requires passengers and transportation service personnel traveling into and out of the nation to declare foreign currency in their possession valued at more than US$10,000, or if they are carrying more than 20,000 yuan.
CHARITY
Gou gives cash for bedding
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday donated NT$10 million to buy bedding for those in need as the nation was hit by the worst cold spell in a decade. The donation is to be used to buy winter bedding such as quilts and sleeping bags for those in need, said the YongLin Healthcare Foundation, which was founded by Gou. The foundation said Gou decided to provide the financial assistance after it received an inquiry from a single mother over the possibility of getting quilts, since her family has only one quilt. The single mother feared that her family would be harmed by the strong cold front, the foundation said. The donation by Gou aims to buy 10,000 to 15,000 quilts or sleeping bags to keep needy families warm, the foundation said.
ENVIRONMENT
Green plan unveiled
The New Taipei City Government yesterday unveiled the “Jinshan initiative,” which calls for sustainable use of natural resources, coexistence of people and land and the promotion of eco-friendly agriculture. The initiative was jointly created with the Taiwan Ecological Engineering Development Foundation and was inspired by the arrival of a Siberian crane in the city’s Jinshan District (金山) in December 2014. New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) said the Siberian crane’s arrival has drawn the public’s attention to conservation issues and the development of local communities. Chen said he looks forward to working out a resolution on land use with local residents and pushing for an environmental revitalization campaign. With the goal of promoting the coexistence of living, production and ecology, the city government is to integrate government resources to establish a production and marketing framework friendly to agriculture, according to the initiative.
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
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
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
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
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