DIPLOMACY
European legislators visit
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Eight parliamentarians from European countries — Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine — arrived in Taiwan yesterday to begin a six-day exchange with senior officials and NGO representatives. The delegation, led by Zygimantas Pavilionis, deputy chair of the Lithuanian Seimas’ Committee on Foreign Affairs, would meet officials during its stay through Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The group would visit a Ministry of National Defense-funded think tank and an NGO focused on promoting digital diplomacy, as well as the frontline island of Kinmen, to better understand Taiwan’s history and national development, the foreign ministry said.
POLITICS
KMT party to visit China
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Deputy Chairman Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) is leading a delegation to Beijing from today to Wednesday for a think tank exchange with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the KMT yesterday said. The delegation includes KMT-affiliated National Policy Foundation deputy chairman Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) and about 40 others. The exchange is said to focus on administrative, industrial, energy and scientific topics. A KMT source said the delegation is scheduled to attend a dinner with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) this evening, with other scheduled visits on Wednesday. The delegation might also meet National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧).
HEALTH
Early refills available
People who might run out of medication during the Lunar New Year holiday, from Feb. 14 to Feb. 22, can visit clinics or hospitals through Feb. 13 to get early refills, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said. People originally scheduled for follow-up visits or prescription refills during the holiday can visit earlier to avoid interruptions in treatment, the ministry said. About 1.46 million people could be affected, the National Health Insurance Administration estimated. Those needing to collect refills in advance can use the National Health Insurance app to check pharmacy hours.
CRIME
Nine arrested over scam
Nine people were arrested on Saturday for their alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency scam that defrauded nearly 1,000 victims of more than NT$5 billion (US$158.9 million) for several years. The Taipei District Court issued a warrant for the arrest of the lead suspect, surnamed Chiu (邱), and eight alleged accomplices, holding them incommunicado, the court said. The nine suspects were arrested on Friday after the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office led investigators and police in simultaneous raids at nine locations. The group promised investors safe monthly returns of between 3 percent and 7 percent through investments in cryptocurrencies known as EGT and TBT via a fake lending Web site, prosecutors said. Victims were scammed out of more than NT$5 billion between 2022 and last year after attending “investment seminars” hosted by the group, prosecutors said. The group was allegedly involved in another scam in 2023 involving fake cryptocurrency and green energy investments, which defrauded 316 people of NT$277.3 million. Chiu and 16 others were indicted last month on fraud and money laundering charges. Chiu was later released on bail, with the trial pending.
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
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
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
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