CRIME
Taiwanese returned: CIB
Three Taiwanese in Georgia, who were forced into a telecom fraud operation, were returned to Taiwan safely months ago, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday in response to media reports that a Taiwanese gang was allegedly operating a fraud ring in the European nation. The bureau said that in May it had received reports of three Taiwanese being held captive in Georgia and forced to engage in telecom fraud. Some of the 400 Taiwanese and Chinese in the hotel utilized by the ring were tricked into entering the country, while others went voluntarily, although they expected to be compensated, the bureau said. It liaised with its office in the Netherlands and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to extract the three in June and July, and has opened an investigation into the case, the bureau said. It also said that there appears to have been Taiwanese operating a criminal enterprise in Georgia, with its members entering the country on a third passport, although they reportedly moved to Southeast Asia last month after attracting attention from local law enforcement.
DIPLOMACY
German agreement inked
Taiwan and Germany yesterday signed an agreement to establish a commission to promote and facilitate exchanges at the civil society level, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The agreement was signed remotely by Representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉), who is based in Berlin, and German Deputy Representative to Taiwan Andreas Hofem in Taipei, the ministry said in a news release. Initiated by the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, the agreement is aimed at establishing a platform for enhanced bilateral dialogue at the level of civil society, the ministry said. The German office said in a news release that the commission would comprise 24 members — 12 from each side — and be headed by two chairs. German lawmaker Reinhard Butikofer has been named as one cochair and former National Chengchi University professor Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華) has been named as the other, releases by the two sides said. The commission is to be launched next year and is to meet once a year, alternating between Germany and Taiwan, the German office said. The agreement is the third to be signed by the two sides this year, the other two being pacts on technology collaboration and judicial cooperation on criminal matters, the ministry said.
HEALTH
CDC nears vaccine goal
More than 6 million doses of publicly funded influenza vaccines have been administered this year, including to nearly half of people aged 65 or above, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Since its rollout on Oct. 2, 6.018 million doses of the flu vaccine had been administered, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) told reporters. In terms of age, 2.08 million people aged 65 or above, or 49.8 percent of that age group, have received a shot, just shy of the government’s goal of 55 percent, Lo said. In the 50-to-64 age group, 15.4 percent, or 813,000 people, have been vaccinated, as have 70,000 people aged 19 to 49 with chronic illnesses or other factors that put them at risk of severe complications from infection, he said. As of yesterday, 561,000 doses remained unadministered, he said, adding that the CDC would consider purchasing additional doses based on demand. The flu season typically begins in November and winds down in March.
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