HEALTH
One dies of food poisoning
Another person died of last month’s food poisoning outbreak at the Xinyi branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, bringing the number of deaths to three, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said yesterday. As of Friday, 35 people were reported to have fallen ill after dining at the Xinyi restaurant from March 19 to 24, including two deaths reported late last month. The latest death was one of the four severe cases under intensive care. The patient died of multiple organ failure, Wang said. Taipei Medical University Hospital in a text message said that the patient was transferred to the hospital on March 24 and died yesterday. Wang said that the condition of the remaining three severe cases remains the same. One person has received a liver transplant and is in the process of recovering, while others have had severe infection, he added. It is clear that this incident is a case of bongkrek acid-led poisoning, Wang said.
SEISMICITY
Aftershocks normal: CWA
An earthquake measuring magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan early yesterday is an aftershock of the April 3 Hualien earthquake that claimed at least 18 lives, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The quake, which struck at 2:21am, was the largest aftershock since a magnitude 6.3 earthquake rattled the eastern county early on Tuesday. People in 13 administrative regions received emergency alerts, the agency said. Two more aftershocks of stronger than magnitude 4.5 on the Richter scale followed the quake yesterday within half an hour, including one of magnitude 5.8 at 2:49am. Their epicenter was in Hualien County’s Sioulin Township (秀林), near the epicenter of the April 3 quake. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) said that large earthquakes tend to be followed by aftershocks over a long period. The CWA has observed no anomalies in terms of the aftershocks, he added. As of 6am yesterday, Taiwan has experienced 1,303 aftershocks since the April 3 quake, with six registering at least magnitude 6, and 63 between magnitudes 5 and 6, the CWA data showed.
SCIENCE
Bacterial strain discovered
A research team from National Taiwan Ocean University’s (NTOU) Institute of Marine Biology has discovered a bacterial strain with the potential to degrade plastic, the university said in a statement on Monday. The team, led by assistant professor Ho Ying-ning (何攖寧), said that it has found a marine bacterial strain isolated from marine sediment on Taiwan’s northern coast, which they named Oceanimonas pelagia NTOU-MSR1. The bacterium, possibly a new member of the Oceanimonas genus, was able to biodegrade 10 to 15 percent of polyethylene, which is one of the most commonly used plastics worldwide, in 120 days. The strain was also able to produce a biosurfactant that emulsified 40 percent of diesel fuel within two weeks, the statement said. Genomic analysis of the bacteria showed genes associated with the biosynthesis of polyhydroxybutyrate, a substance considered a biodegradable plastic alternative, it added. Ho said the strain’s potential for environment restoration and commercial use would be explored with plans to use it in environmental protection. The findings were last month published in Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, an international scientific journal covering microbiology.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai