■ SOCIETY
Taipei to install cameras
The Taipei City Government will spend NT$1.6 billion (US$47.5 million) within the next year to install 13,000 new high-performance closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on streets all over the city to fight crime and monitor traffic conditions, Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday. After hearing a briefing at the Taipei City Police Department on a plan for the new video surveillance system, Hau said the cameras would be mounted at strategic locations on the city’s public roads to make Taipei a safer city. Asked whether the new equipment would mean a further erosion of residents’ privacy, Hau said no one would be given access to the recorded tapes without a justifiable reason. He added that all the video footage would be on roads and would not infringe on people’s privacy in their homes.
■ POLITICS
Ma to invite Tsai
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is to officially invite Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) today for talks, the Presidential Office said. Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) would personally deliver an invitation this morning to DPP Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), whom Wang said was the contact person assigned by Tsai for the matter. Wang declined to offer details of the letter, saying it would be rude to disclose it. Talk about a meeting between Ma and Tsai has been in the air, but Ma and Tsai failed to agree on the format and issues of the meeting. DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) yesterday said the party would not comment until it had received the letter.
■ POLITICS
Chiang events planned
The Presidential Office yesterday announced a series of activities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). A seminar sponsored by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) tomorrow will start the month of events. Organizers planned to invite 20 guests who were Chiang’s associates or friends to tell their own tales about Chiang. The KMT yesterday made public a 196-page Chiang pictorial. Historica Sinica will hold an exhibition from Saturday to Sept. 13. The Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange will invite author Jay Taylor to speak at a forum on Saturday at Eslite Bookstore in Taipei City’s Xinyi District. The Government Information Office will also premiere a 48-minute film on Saturday. A concert is scheduled for Sunday at the square of the National Concert Hall.
■ MEDIA
‘Formosa Post’ to debut
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) announced yesterday the trial issue of her planned Formosa Post (玉山午報) would make its debut tomorrow. The date was picked to coincide with the anniversary of the implementation of the Taiwan Relations Act 30 years ago, Lu said. Another trial issue will be issued on May 20, with the official launch of the afternoon newspaper slated for July 1. Despite financial difficulties, Lu said there was no problem with manpower, but they planned to relocated to a new office within six weeks. Accusing the media of sensational coverage and giving in to commercial manipulation, Lu said she hoped to create a newspaper that served the public.
■ EDUCATION
ADHD proposal passed
The legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday passed the preliminary review of part of an amendment to the Special Education Act (特殊教育法) that would include children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in special needs education. Children with ADHD have been excluded from special needs education as the current Act stipulates that only those with “severe emotional disorder,” mental retardation, learning disorders or visual, hearing, linguistic or physical impairment are considered in need of special education. Legislators agreed to change the phrase “severe emotional disorder” to “emotional disorder” based on input from experts and educators. They also agreed that early intervention for children with special needs should begin as early as three years of age. However, legislators remained in disagreement over whether local governments should earmark more funding for special needs education and who should be authorized to evaluate and place a child with special needs.
■ NATURE
Young coati put on display
The first Taiwan-born coati, a mammal belonging to the raccoon family, has been put on public display at the Taipei Zoo, a zoo official said yesterday. A pair of coatis, also known as hog-nosed coons, which are endemic to tropical zones of South America, were introduced to the public at the Taipei Zoo for the first time last July. The pair gave birth to six cubs in January, but five of them died the following day, probably because of their mother’s inability to rear them, Taipei Zoo director Jason Yeh (葉傑生) said. “Zookeepers then began to feed the surviving coati,” Yeh said, adding that it was the first time coatis have successfully reproduced in Taiwan.
■ HEALTH
Transplant data released
Several local hospitals are excelling in advanced organ transplant techniques, a Bureau of National Health Insurance official said yesterday. The official made the remarks upon the release of figures on organ transplants between 1997 and 2007. Tzeng Wen-fu (曾玟富), responsible for medical service reviews at the bureau, said the figures showed the average five-year survival rate for heart transplant patients was 69 percent during the period, while the figure for kidney transplants reached 93 percent, with 80 percent recorded for liver transplants and 24 percent for lung transplants. Cheng Hsin Hospital in Taipei was found to have performed the best in heart transplants, with a 79 percent three-year survival rate, bureau figures show. The figures show that the Taipei-based National Taiwan University Hospital recorded the highest five-year survival rate of 96 percent for kidney transplants among the country’s medical institutes, while the Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital registered the highest survival rate of 91 percent for liver transplants.
■ CULTURE
Museum hosts touch tours
The visually impaired are being invited to take special touch tours of the National Palace Museum over the next four Sundays, which will give them the chance to touch replicas of well-known artifacts such as the Jadeite Cabbage, the organizer said yesterday. The tours are aimed at promoting art education among the visually impaired, the Welfare Association for the Blind said. They will take place on the mornings of April 12, April 19, April 26 and May 3, and each tour will accommodate up to 12 people, the association said. Those interested can register with the association by calling (02) 2599-1234.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Upon its completion next year, the new Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) in New Taipei City is to be an important landmark in Taiwan, alongside Taipei 101, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said today. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in December next year and open to the public in the first half of 2026, connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts. It is an asymmetric single-tower suspension bridge, nearly 70 stories tall, designed by world-famous architect Zaha Hadid. The bridge aims to alleviate traffic in Tamsui and on the Guandu Bridge (關渡大橋), in addition to increasing the
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