POLITICS
Ma Ying-jeou visiting the US
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) departed to the US on Sunday, where he plans to deliver a speech at New York University, meet with academics from two Washington-based think tanks and attend a banquet hosted by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Ma’s office said in a news release. Ma is also to lead a delegation of Taiwanese students from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation’s Dajiu Academy to visit the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Committee on US-China Relations in New York. During the trip, they are to meet with Brookings Institution and Heritage Foundation academics at forums in Washington and members of the Committee of 100, a nonprofit US leadership organization composed of US citizens of Chinese descent. They are also to visit the New York headquarters of the World Journal, the largest Chinese-language newspaper in the US. Hsiao is to hold a dinner banquet in Ma’s honor at Twin Oaks in Washington.
WEATHER
Cooler weather forecast
Seasonal northeasterly winds are to affect Taiwan’s weather twice this week, bringing precipitation and lower temperatures, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Sunday. The first northeasterly wind system is likely to arrive today, while the second is to affect Taiwan from Friday to Sunday, CWA forecaster Chen I-hsiu (陳伊秀) said. The first system is to bring mild showers to the eastern half of Taiwan and the Hengchun Peninsula. With pressure increasing over the Pacific tomorrow and on Thursday, most of Taiwan would have cloudy skies with a chance of sun, but eastern Taiwan and mountainous areas would experience afternoon showers, Chen said. Northeasterly winds arriving on Friday would bring atmospheric precipitation, leading to periodic rain north of Taoyuan and in mountainous areas in the north and east, she said. This week, temperatures in the north and east would hit highs of 25°C to 27°C, while lows would range from 21°C to 24°C. Central and southern Taiwan would have highs of 29°C to 31°C and lows of 22°C to 25°C, she said.
AGRICULTURE
Official talks dairy concerns
Changhua County Commissioner Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) on Sunday praised her county’s dairy industry, but called on the central government to improve its management of dairy imports at the source. Changhua producers are not worried about competition from foreign countries, but they hope the government would require the place of origin to be clearly marked on imported milk, Wang said. Wang made the appeal as tariffs on dairy products from New Zealand are to be reduced to zero by Jan. 1, 2025, under the Taiwan-New Zealand Economic Cooperation Agreement. She did not elaborate on why she had the concerns.
HEALTHCARE
NHI expands cancer coverage
From next month, people with two types of cancer would be eligible to receive chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatment under the National Health Insurance (NHI) system, the National Health Insurance Administration said on Sunday. The treatment, which takes immune T-cells and modifies them with CARs so that they can recognize and destroy cancer cells, would be available to people with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma that meet certain criteria, the agency said. Although the exact criteria have yet to be finalized, it is estimated that about 110 people would benefit, it said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe