SOCIETY
Man dies in scaffold collapse
A man was yesterday killed and six were injured in a scaffolding collapse on an oil terminal under construction at the Port of Kaohsiung. Another worker was still trapped as of press time last night. Their condition was described as lightly injured, but conscious. The Kaohsiung Fire Department said that it was notified at about 5:11pm of an incident at the port’s partially built oil terminal. The collpase is suspected to have been caused by a hydraulic failure in a jack that held up the platform, which plunged eight workers down the 40m-tall cylindrical structure. First responders from the department and the port’s fire brigade removed eight workers from the collapsed scaffolding, including a man surnamed Chung (鍾) who showed no signs of life. Taiwan International Ports Corp, which manages the port, said that the cause of the incident is being investigated.
HEALTH
Kaohsiung opens lab
The Kaohsiung City Government on Wednesday launched a NT$100 million (US$3.62 million) medical laboratory that is the first Good Tissue Practice cellular therapy center in southern Taiwan. The center is a joint creation of the municipal government, Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital and Raypal Biomedical, a medical unit of Compal Electronics. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that technology surrounding the emerging field of cell therapy could become the next pillar of the Taiwanese economy, adding that the city government hopes the center will advance medicine, while providing better medical care and economic opportunities for Kaohsiung residents. The university said that the 132-hectare center houses two A2 biosafety cabinets and five Good Manufacturing Practice labs, each of which is equipped with six incubators, which means the facility can process 24 samples concurrently.
DIPLOMACY
Nation cuts Honduras tariffs
The government on Friday cut to zero tariffs on 25 goods imported from Honduras under a free-trade agreement, offering an incentive ahead of this month’s inauguration of a new president who had threatened to break off diplomatic ties. Honduras is one of only 14 countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Prior to winning the presidential election in November last year, Xiomara Castro of the Liberty and Refoundation Party said that if victorious, she might open diplomatic ties with China, but her team has since backtracked. The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that the import tariff cut on agricultural goods ranging from avocados to yogurt and pork bellies, originally agreed on in 2019, came into effect after completing legal procedures. The ministry said that since 2007, bilateral trade had grown from US$65.95 million to US$148 million last year, with Honduras being the largest source of frozen prawns imported into Taiwan.
CRIME
Judge rules in dog attack
The Shihlin District Court on Friday sentenced a woman surnamed Wang (王) to 55 days in jail after her German shepherd, Mary, bit former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭). Chang was bitten when attempting to separate his dog and Mary in a park on Taipei’s Yangmingshan (陽明山) on Feb. 13 last year, the ruling said. Wang’s two German shepherds were not muzzled and she was not near Mary when it chased Chang’s dog. Wang denied that Mary had bitten Chang. Wang’s jail sentence can be commuted to a NT$55,000 fine, and can be appealed.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS