EDUCATION
Ma to teach at Soochow
Former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has accepted an honorary teaching position at Soochow University, the school said yesterday. The letter of appointment as a chair professor of law was handed to Ma by Soochow University president Pan Wei-ta (潘維大) on Thursday, it said. Ma will start teaching next month and will take three or four sessions, the university said. Ma will give lectures on international law, international relations, cross-strait relations, contemporary Taiwanese history and other subjects, it said. The course is a non-credit program and is open to students and faculty members who can register online, it added.
HEALTH
Hearing loss tops list
Hearing loss was the most common occupational disease in Taiwan last year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Labor yesterday. Hospitals and occupational disease prevention centers around Taiwan reported a total of 2,242 cases of occupational diseases last year, the ministry said. Hearing loss topped the list for the third year in a row, with 1,294 cases, or 57.7 percent of all reported cases, the ministry said. It was followed by musculoskeletal disorders with 610 cases, or 27.2 percent of all work-related illnesses, ministry statistics showed. The third most common occupational illness was skin disease with 117 cases, or 5.2 percent of the total. Occupational hearing loss is seen mostly in the textile and metal parts assembly industries, the ministry said. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are often caused by repetitive motion, heavy lifting and use of excessive force to perform tasks, it added.
DRUGS
Taiwanese held in Jakarta
Indonesian police on Thursday arrested five Taiwanese suspects in a raid on a private residence in Jakarta, where they found 60kg of methamphetamine, Indonesian authorities said. Investigators have said that the drug was supplied by a crime ring based in Taiwan, Indonesian National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said. Police also arrested an Indonesian during the raid in Ancol, North Jakarta, he said. It is not the first time that Taiwanese drug suspects have been arrested in Indonesia, a nation where the maximum penalty for drug offenses is death.
DIPLOMACY
Tsai urges Seoul relations
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Thursday called for regular senior-level exchanges between Taiwan and South Korea, which she said share a common interest in maintaining stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Meeting a group of South Korean lawmakers at the Presidential Office, Tsai also urged the South Koreans to support Taiwan’s bid to join the International Civil Aviation Organization to ensure air travel safety, as about 200 weekly flights take place between the two nations. Taiwan and South Korea share experience in fighting for freedom and human rights, as well as having similar models of economic development, she told the lawmakers, including South Korean National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee member Hong Moon-jong. Tsai said there is ample room for the two nations to further improve their relations. Also at the meeting were South Korea’s representative to Taipei Cho Baek-sang, Presidential Office Secretary-General Lin Bih-jaw (林碧炤) and Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Chen-jan (李澄然).
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
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