■ Cross-strait ties
Beijing bans tours to Taiwan
China is prohibiting groups from visiting Taiwan amid fears the travelers would spread the SARS virus, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. Xinhua quoted an unidentified spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office as saying that the ban on group travel across the Taiwan Strait would be effective until further notice. ``We are confident that cross-strait exchanges and contacts between personnel will continue to develop after SARS is curtailed,'' the spokesman reportedly said. Phone calls to the Taiwan Affairs Office went unanswered after business hours yesterday.
■ Science
Delegation in Denmark
A four-member delegation from Academia Sinica arrived in Copenhagen on Tuesday to attend the 6th symposium of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Shao Kwang-Chao (劭廣昭), director of Academia Sinica's Institute of Zoology, is heading the delegation that will attend the three-day gathering that ends today. The GBIF has 36 members and its purpose is to make the world's biodiversity data freely and universally available.
■ Transportation
CKS numbers plummet
The number of arrivals and departures at CKS International Airport hit a record low of 12,342 on Monday, according to figures released by the airport administration. The historic lows -- 6,560 arrivals and 5,782 departures -- were a result of the government's decision to impose a 10-day period of forced confinement on passengers coming from areas and countries listed by the World Health Organization as affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Monday's figure was about 25 percent of the normal traffic volume, airport officials said, adding that travelers from China, Macau, Singapore and Canada totaled 2,266, including 38 foreigners.
■ Health
Vaccine hunt team formed
Academia Sinica will organize a research team to try to develop vaccines for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), president Lee Yuan-tse (李遠哲) said on Tuesday evening. Lee said that Michael Lai (賴明詔), who will take over the post as the institute's vice president in July, along with Chen Ting-hsin (陳定信), president of National Taiwan University Hospital, will be in charge of organizing the project. Lee expressed his confidence in the lineup of academics, saying it is expected that the 16-member research unit will be able to develop the vaccines within a six-month to one-year period.
■ Crime
Robbers shoot police officer
Two gunmen shot a police officer 11 times during a robbery at the Motor Vehicles Office in Taichung City yesterday. They escaped with NT$10 million. The police officer, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was taken to the Taichung Veterans General Hospital for treatment but his condition was not thought to be life-threatening. The two robbers hid in a toilet at the office until cash trucks arrived at around 5pm, when the office closed. After opening fire on two police officers, the robbers fled on a motorcycle with the cash. Yesterday was the final day to pay vehicle license plate taxes, the police said.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
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