CRIME
Man arrested after fight
Taichung prosecutors yesterday sought the continued detention of a man accused of pushing a Taiwan Railway Corp station worker onto the tracks after entering the platform without a ticket. The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said the 39-year-old suspect, surnamed Chen (陳), is being investigated for attempted murder. After questioning Chen yesterday morning, prosecutors said he poses a flight risk and requested his detention. The incident occurred on Monday afternoon at Wuquan Station in Taichung, where Chen allegedly entered the station without a ticket. A station worker tried to get Chen to leave the platform, and Chen allegedly pushed him onto the tracks, the Taichung Precinct of the Railway Police Bureau said. The worker broke his ankle, but climbed back onto the platform, police said. Police said they were notified of the incident at 3:44pm on Monday, and Chen was arrested at about 6pm after fleeing the scene.
Photo courtesy of a member of the public
DIPLOMACY
Estonia eases rules
Taiwanese can drive in Estonia for up to one year using an International Driving Permit (IDP), without needing an official Estonian translation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The ministry previously announced in February that the Estonian government would allow holders of a Taiwanese driver’s license and an IDP, along with an official translation of that document, to drive in the Baltic state for stays under 12 months. Department of European Affairs Director Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) said the Estonian government has further relaxed the rules, removing the translation requirement for Taiwanese.
FOOD SAFETY
Star anise batch destroyed
A shipment of 8,947kg of star anise fragments imported from China was destroyed at the border after testing positive for Sudan III dye, a banned industrial coloring agent, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday. The batch, imported by Jofont Biotechnology Co (宏芳生物科技), was among 14 products on the noncompliance list released, including Japanese melons, South Korean frozen marlin, French spice powder, Australian mandarins and Vietnamese broccoli. Agency official Liu Fang-ming (劉芳銘) said the agency is carrying out inspections for Sudan dyes on all star anise fragments from China from April 11 last year through Sept. 30 next year.
DIPLOMACY
Taiwan lectureship unveiled
Roma Tre University on Monday signed an agreement with Taiwan’s representative office in Italy to establish a Taiwan studies lectureship, expanding its Sinology research beyond a “China-centered” perspective. The lectureship is part of a Ministry of Education initiative to promote Taiwan-focused research and raise the nation’s global visibility through partnerships with leading universities. Representative to Italy Vincent Tsai (蔡允中) said the program would deepen bilateral ties, and boost academic and cultural exchanges. Roma Tre University president Massimiliano Fiorucci said the partnership reflects the growing importance of academic collaboration between Taiwan and Italy. Roma Tre has previously worked with Taiwan through education and cultural programs launched in 2012, hosting conferences, Mandarin courses and film festivals about Taiwanese culture, he added. The five-year lectureship is to cover topics such as literature, international relations, Taiwan’s role in the Indo-Pacific region, and its leadership in artificial intelligence, communications technology and economics.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
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