ENVIRONMENT
Asbestos rules announced
Imports of products containing asbestos are to be banned from May next year as part of a government effort to phase out use of the substance, with a few exceptions, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said on Tuesday. From May 1 next year, products containing asbestos would be barred from entering Taiwan and people who import such products would be fined NT$60,000 to NT$300,000, the EPA said. On May 1, 1989, the EPA designated asbestos a Category 2 toxic chemical substance in accordance with the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act (毒性及關注化學物質管理法). Tiny asbestos fibers do not dissolve in water, and heavy exposure can irritate the eyes and skin. When inhaled, the fibers can get trapped in the lungs and remain there for a long time. Accumulated asbestos fibers cause tissue inflammation and scarring, leading to serious health problems such as asbestosis and lung cancer.
UNITED STATES
Pompeo defies CCP
Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Tuesday posted online his response to a complaint from the Chinese embassy to the Hudson Institute’s China Center. “The CCP wants me to stop speaking the truth. Ain’t gonna happen,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter, referring to the Chinese Communist Party, which the embassy called the CPC. The center recently launched a new series of videos titled “Evening Chats with Mike Pompeo: A Message to the Chinese People,” the most recent of which is titled, “The Chinese Communist Party does not represent the Chinese People.” The embassy’s letter, which Pompeo included with his message, said that in the videos he had made a “groundless accusation against the Communist Party of China,” which “lifted 800 million people out of poverty and led 1.4 billion people to modernization.” It added that “any attempts to cut off the blood ties between the CPC and the Chinese people are doomed to fail.”
CRIME
Manila kidnap ring busted
An operation in the Philippines led to arrests of members of an alleged kidnapping group based in Metro Manila, Taiwan’s representative office in the Philippines said yesterday. Police arrested five members of the group, known as “Warla,” were searching for four others and seized four guns after rescuing a Taiwanese man on Sept. 7, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines said. The group arranged a date for the man, abducted him in a bar in Paranaque on Sept. 3 and demanded 500,000 pesos (US$8,507) from his family in exchange for his freedom, the office said. The office said it helped the family pay 310,000 pesos and worked with Philippine authorities to find the group.
CRIME
E-cigarette case deferred
Taichung police yesterday said that the prosecution of a man in an e-cigarette-paraphernalia smuggling case was deferred after the proceeds of his activities were confiscated. The man, a 38-year-old Taichung resident surnamed Lin (林), had been turned over to Taichung prosecutors after his arrested on suspicion that he had contravened the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), police said in a statement. Lin allegedly attempted to smuggle e-liquids, which are used in e-cigarettes, from China last year by concealing them in bottles of pet body wash, the statement said. Lin was found selling vaping devices by police officers on patrol, it said.
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
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