COVID-19
Cases drop below 10,000
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 7,745 new COVID-19 cases, the first time the daily caseload fell below 10,000 since April 27 last year, when the center reported 8,822 cases. It also reported 44 deaths from the disease. Yesterday’s daily caseload represented a 35.8 percent decline from a week earlier. Taiwan has recorded 10,033,108 COVID-19 cases and 17,908 deaths since the pandemic began in early 2020. The CECC has stopped providing daily updates on the age distribution and health status of the deceased, as well as the number of vaccine doses they received. It is also no longer releasing city and county case numbers daily.
CULTURE
Event marks 228 Incident
The Gongsheng Music Festival is to be held on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei this afternoon, featuring music performances, speeches and exhibitions that focus on the 228 Incident and transitional justice. The Taiwan Gongsheng Youth Association, the event organizer, has invited three family members of 228 Incident victims to share their stories. Elephant Gym (大象體操), Lin Sheng-xiang (林生祥), Panai and other performers are to take the stage from 4pm to 10pm. An exhibition is also scheduled at 3pm to teach about the Incident using oral history materials, photographs and film screenings. Several organizations, including the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and the Avanguard Publishing House, are to set up booths where visitors can learn about the Incident, as well as other issues relating to migrant workers, gender and the environment. Access to all of the activities at the festival is free to the public.
AGRICULTURE
Breeder chickens arrive
The nation has taken delivery of 50,000 imported breeder chickens as part of a plan to import 300,000 of the fowl this year to address a nationwide egg shortage, Chiang Wen-chuan (江文全), deputy head of the Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Department of Animal Industry said yesterday. By increasing the number of imported egg-laying chickens, low-yield hens can be replaced, he said. The COA is to help egg farmers import egg-laying chickens to provide a sufficient supply and accelerate the replacement of aged hens. The COA said it would also import 5 million shell and liquid eggs by the end of next month to address the egg shortage. The nation imported 260,000 egg-laying chickens last year.
CRIME
Marine arrested in Pingtung
A marine was arrested in Pingtung County on Saturday while allegedly trying to sell a pistol and 20 bullets to an undercover police officer for NT$65,000. The 21-year-old soldier, surnamed Hsu (徐), and a man surnamed Teng (鄧) were arrested after police posing as arms buyers online arranged to meet the suspects at an indoor shrimp fishing restaurant, Fangliao Precinct Deputy Squadron Chief Hsieh Ming-pang (謝明邦) said. Along with the pistol and the bullets, police also seized two mobile phones and a vehicle from Hsu and Teng, Hsieh said. Prosecutors charged the pair with contravening the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), police said, adding that they were released after posting bail of NT$100,000 each. Following the arrests, the navy said in a statement that the weapon seized from Hsu was not a service weapon, adding that no guns were missing from its armory. Soldiers found guilty of involvement in such activities are subject to substantial punishment along with dismissal, the navy said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to