HEALTH
Alert over sex worker
A Thai woman who entered the nation on March 11 on a visitor visa and was arrested by Taitung County police for engaging in sex work has been confirmed to be HIV positive, the Taitung Public Health Bureau said yesterday. “Patty,” 24, used the social media app Line to seek clients and could have had dozens of clients, the bureau said. While the woman has been repatriated, the bureau said those who had unprotected sex with her between March 13 and March 22 should be tested for HIV within three months. Free HIV and syphilis tests are available at public health centers nationwide or at a number of clinics that provide anonymous HIV testing. Further information can be found at goo.gl/qk6z3Y or the HIV/AIDS information service hotline at 089-352-995, it said.
POLITICS
Groups protest at MECO
Members of 17 civic groups and non-governmental organizations yesterday protested outside the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taipei against what they called the Philippine government’s “unjustified” labeling of hundreds of people as “terrorists.” The protesters denounced a court petition filed by the Philippine government in February that seeks to declare more than 600 individuals terrorists over their alleged links with the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army. The petition was filed two months after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte terminated peace negotiations with the communists. Hsia Hsiao-chuan (夏曉鵑), a professor at Shih Hsin University’s Graduate Institute for Social Transformation Studies, said many people on the “terrorist” list are human rights activists, including UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and Elisa Tita Lubi, a founder of the Gabriela Women’s Party. MECO Director of Assistance to Nationals Keefe dela Cruz accepted a petition from the protesters. “The office respects the groups’ right to protest and would rather not comment,” MECO said in an e-mail later in the day.
DIPLOMACY
Appeal made to Manila
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called on the Philippines not to deport 78 Taiwanese arrested in January on fraud charges to China. Manila should cherish the friendship between the two nations, the ministry said as it cited a bilateral agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and a memorandum of understanding on combating transnational crime. The Taiwanese should be deported to Taiwan to avoid undermining bilateral ties, it said. The 78 Taiwanese are among 158 people arrested on Jan. 13 for alleged involvement in telecom fraud, it said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Kaohsiung to host Esports
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) on Monday signed a contract with the International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) to host this year’s annual Esports World Championship from Nov. 9 to Nov. 11. Chen signed the contract along with Chinese Taipei e-Sports Association (CTeSA) director Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清) and IeSF board member Colin Webster. Chen said the city is well prepared to host such an event after having hosted the 2009 World Games. Esports are one of the most highly watched sports in the world, she said. The 10th Esports World Championship is to be held at Kaohsiung Arena and organizers said the event is expected to attract more than 1,000 players from more than 50 nations.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
RSS