DIPLOMACY
France’s Olivier Cadic lands
French Senator Olivier Cadic has arrived on his third visit to Taiwan and is to meet with high-level government officials over the next four days, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Cadic, the vice president of the French Senate’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces, is to be the guest of honor at banquets hosted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee (李淳) and Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應), chairperson of the Taiwan-France Interparliamentary Amity Association, the ministry said. The senator is also scheduled to meet with French business representatives and expatriates in Taiwan and visit Penghu County, it said. Cadic’s visit is the fourth by a French parliamentary delegation this year.
CULTURE
Ministry obtains Paris booth
Taiwan has secured a display area in Paris for the Cultural Olympiad next year, Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) said on Saturday. With the Paris Olympics scheduled for July 26 to Aug. 11 next year and the Summer Paralympics for Aug. 28 to Sept. 8 next year, a Cultural Olympiad is taking place across France to celebrate the upcoming athletic competitions. The Cultural Olympiad is to conclude at the end of the Paralympics. Shih, who is visiting Europe, said that Taiwan would attend the cultural celebration to showcase the nation. As next year is also the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris, Shih said: “We have already rented an area for Taiwan’s booth. Taiwan will not miss out.” The booth would focus on Taiwan’s freedom, democracy, human rights and cross-strait relations, he said. These issues would be addressed using a wide range of medis, including literature, film and fine art depicted using technology, he said.
DEFENSE
More corporals to be trained
The Ministry of National Defense has allocated funding to train more corporals after the government last year announced that the length of compulsory military service would be extended from four months to one year from January next year. The budget for next year, released on Aug. 31, showed that the ministry would promote 1,000 corporals from its pool of one-year draftees. Next year, Taiwan would have about 9,127 one-year draftees and 69,523 four-month conscripts, the ministry said. The new budget means that one in nine one-year draftees could be recruited as corporals. The number of one-year draftees is forecast to climb to about 35,050 in 2027, while that of four-month conscripts would drop to about 32,731.
CRIME
Doctor’s sentence upheld
The Supreme Court on Sept. 12 upheld a four-year sentence handed to a Taichung-based doctor charged with negligent homicide after he was found guilty of giving illegal injections that caused three heroin addicts seeking to treat their withdrawal symptoms to die of shock. The doctor, surnamed Lin (林), was convicted of illegally administering the jabs, which contained propofol, an anesthetic, mixed with anticholinergics, which are restricted substances. Taichung prosecutors found that the three addicts all died of shock at Lin’s clinic shortly after receiving the injections between June 2015 and April 2016. The Taichung District Court sentenced Lin to six years in jail on the grounds that he ignored the potential risks when administering the injections. The High Court’s Taichung branch reduced the sentence to four years after Lin reached settlements with all three families. The Supreme Court’s verdict is final and cannot be appealed.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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