HEALTH
Boosters available for kids
From Tuesday, children aged six months to five years who have already received two doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine would be eligible for a second-generation Moderna jab as a booster, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Friday. However, the updated Moderna bivalent COVID-19 vaccine targeting the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of SARS-CoV-2 cannot be administered as a third shot for children aged six months to four years if their previous two doses were Pfizer-BioNTech jabs, it said. The standard Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination regime for children comprises three shots, while Moderna’s is two, so children must receive Pfizer-BioNTech as their third shot, the CDC said. However, five-year-olds can receive either as their booster, it said. The updated Moderna dose should be administered at least three months after the previous shot, it said, adding that about 134,000 children are eligible for shots.
POLITICS
Cabinet spokesman named
Alan Lin (林子倫), deputy executive director of the Executive Yuan’s Office of Energy and Carbon Reduction, was named Cabinet spokesman on Friday. The Cabinet in a statement described Lin, who teaches political science at National Taiwan University, as a public policy expert, saying that he has been assisting the government in planning its energy and environmental policies. He also led a delegation last year that participated in discussions at the COP27 summit in Egypt, it said. Lin’s predecessor, Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), tendered his resignation in February following allegations that he offered favors for sex during his time as a civil servant in Tainan more than a decade ago. Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) has been acting Cabinet spokesman since then.
DIPLOMACY
Envoy shares vision
Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said his main objective would be to continue to advance the ties that were cemented by his predecessor, Francis Liang (梁國新). Tung, who arrived in the Southeast Asian city-state on Monday, said that Taiwan and Singapore have a longstanding friendship built on extensive collaboration and exchanges, including several memorandums of understanding and trade agreements. He said he is especially hoping to improve ties in the tourism and the high-tech sectors. Tung previously served as Overseas Community Affairs Council minister.
CULTURE
Exhibition opens in Taipei
French conceptual artist Laurent Grasso’s first solo exhibition in Taiwan opened in Taipei on Wednesday, showcasing several of his pieces in a variety of media. The Paris-based artist said the exhibition, titled “Time Leaves,” reflects his constant exploration of the idea of “time” and “traveling through times.” The exhibition, which runs until July 15 at Tao Art in Neihu District (內湖), brings together several works created by the Marcel Duchamp Prize winner, including the film OttO made for the 2018 Biennale of Sydney. The 21-minute film explores the “sacred sites” of indigenous people in Australia’s Northern Territory, showing Grasso’s interest in traditional beliefs and myths, and his embrace of technology. Also on display is another series of paintings of “strangely shaped” flowers, the gallery said. Titled “Future Herbarium,” the paintings were inspired by flowers that mutated after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in Japan in 2011, the gallery said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association
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