The coast guard yesterday confronted a Chinese fishing boat carrying 173 smuggled birds when it attempted to enter Kinmen, as health experts warned of the potential for a devastating outbreak of avian flu in Taiwan.
The birds were immediately destroyed.
The Coast Guard Administration said in a press statement that at 4:30am yesterday, the coast guard discovered a Chinese fishing boat attempting to come ashore at Hsiaokinmen.
20 boxes
As a coast guard vessel approached the boat, two Chinese fishermen threw 20 boxes of birds toward the shore and fled.
The coast guard was unable to intercept the boat, but 173 live birds were found in the boxes. They included Japanese white-eyes, redthroats and daurian redstarts.
Upon discovering the birds, the coast guard called in epidemic prevention experts. The coast guard said that the birds were judged to be potential carriers of avian flu and were destroyed.
The site of the attempted landing was also disinfected.
The birds would have ended up in Taiwanese bird markets if it had not seized the shipment, the coast guard said.
The coast guard warned the public against helping smugglers bring birds into the country, and not to buy birds if their origin was unclear.
Flu risk
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has expressed concern over smuggling from China through the "small three links" -- direct trade and transport between Kinmen, Matsu and China -- saying that Taiwanese and Chinese fishermen might spark an outbreak of avian flu or other diseases in Taiwan by circumventing health and sanitary controls.
The president therefore ordered the government to conduct strict surveillance and interception operations in the area, focusing on illegally imported animals and animal products.
The Coast Guard Administration has launched a crackdown on Chinese vessels entering waters off the outlying islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu to counter smuggling.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS