FOREIGN AFFAIRS
New envoy for Eswatini
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it would send a new ambassador to Eswatini later this month to fill the vacancy left by Thomas Chen (陳經銓), who returned to Taiwan last month because of health issues. Jeremy Liang (梁洪昇), head of the ministry’s Department of Protocol, is to assume the post later this month, Department of West Asia and African Affairs Deputy Director-General Grace Lo (羅靜如) said. Chen was found seriously ill in his office on June 22. He was taken to a hospital in South Africa for treatment, before being sent back to an Eswatini hospital on June 29. After recovering, he returned to Taipei last month, where he remains hospitalized, Lo said. Former ministry secretary-general Tsai Ming-yaw (蔡明耀) has been serving as special envoy in Chen’s absence.
HEALTH
Local dengue case in Taipei
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday confirmed the city’s first indigenous case of dengue fever this year. A woman, from Wenshan District (文山), began suffering from a fever and diarrhea on Sunday. She sought medical treatment the following day and was later diagnosed with dengue fever and hospitalized. The woman had not traveled abroad in the past 12 months, but had visited an area in New Taipei City where dengue fever had been reported, the department said. Local health authorities have inspected the 488 families who live in the same building as the woman, but found no other people with similar symptoms. They have also investigated the density of vector mosquitoes in places where the woman had stayed for more than two hours, as well as neighboring areas within 100m, with the hope of finding the source of infection. Taipei Zoo and Xiangshan area have been disinfected because the woman had stayed there for more than two hours during the incubation period, they added.
EDUCATION
New permit plan for students
Chinese students registered at Taiwanese universities would be able to apply online for multiple entry/exit permits on their own, instead of through their schools, starting on Sept. 1, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. It would take about two working days for the students to receive their permits if all the required documents are submitted, it said. Students from China, Hong Kong and Macau would also be allowed to apply for permit extensions, as well as to update their statuses online when transferring schools or pursuing a higher degree at another university, it said. The new system, which is on trial, would be available shortly for them to apply for the documents needed to study in Taiwan, it said.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
German envoy begins job
German Institute Taipei Director-General Thomas Prinz officially assumed office on Monday, his office announced. “I look forward to cooperating with our Taiwanese and foreign partners, as well as with the other German organizations in Taiwan,” Prinz was quoted as saying in a statement posted on the institute’s Web site. He replaced Martin Eberts, who left Taipei last week after four years as head of the institute. Prinz, who is expected to serve for at least four years in Taipei , was ambassador to Bangladesh from 2015 to last year. Born in 1959 in Wetzlar, Germany, he received a doctorate from the University of Heidelberg’s South Asia Institute.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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