HEALTHCARE
Flu cases drop 17.4%
The number of new patients seeking medical treatment for influenza-like symptoms dropped 17.4 percent last week, indicating the flu season is coming to an end, a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) official said yesterday. The number of new flu-like infection cases fell to 75,127 in the period from July 30 to Saturday last week from 90,917 the previous week, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said, citing the agency’s latest statistics.
EDUCATION
Language program launched
The Ministry of Education on Tuesday launched a Fun Taiwan-style Mandarin learning program, inviting people overseas to learn about and experience the nation through a combination of language learning and tours. The Mandarin On-the-Go in Taiwan program was introduced at a news conference at Taipei’s Huashan Creative Park. The program is made of four “learning Mandarin” travel packages that cover Taipei, Kaohsiung, Changhua and Hualien, the ministry said. It said it hopes the program will maximize the effects of Chinese language learning through attractive and cultural tours, while encouraging those interested in visiting the nation to immerse themselves in local culture. The four packages are to available from Sept. 1 until July 31 next year. Details of the program are available on the ministry’s Web site (www.mgt.org.tw), where those interested can also sign up for the packages.
SOCIETY
Iowa inks license deal
Iowa on Monday signed a reciprocal driver’s license agreement with Taiwan in the US state, removing the requirement of a road test for those eligible from either side. With the signing of the deal, Iowa became the 23rd US state to enter into such an agreement. Under the agreement, which took effect immediately, Taiwanese living in Iowa and holding a valid Taiwanese driver’s license will be exempt from the road test when they apply for a license there, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago said. They will be able to get a standard, Class C driver’s license in Iowa after passing a written test and a vision test, the office said. Similarly, Iowans with permission to reside in Taiwan for at least a year will be entitled to reciprocal treatment, it said.
DIPLOMACY
Mayor departs for Japan
Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) yesterday departed for Japan on a trip aimed at obtaining ideas for infrastructure and economic development and strengthening friendships. Cheng told reporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport before his departure that his delegation would visit several prefectures, paying special attention to their art, culture, tourism, energy systems and agriculture. In Osaka and Kyoto, the delegation is to look at public infrastructure, commerce and culture, with the hope of getting ideas that can be applied in Taoyuan, he said. In Kagawa and Chiba, which have had numerous exchanges with Taoyuan in recent years, the focus will be on their use of art and culture to boost tourism, as well as building relationships, Cheng said. The delegation is also to visit the cities of Chiba and Narita, which have friendly-city agreements with Taoyuan. The group is to observe their development in the areas of logistics, solar energy and tourism, he said.
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
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