SOCIETY
No sedatives at preschool
Mass spectrometry testing found no traces of barbiturates in a blood sample from a student at a preschool in New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止) amid a scare over the alleged use of sedatives at preschools, the city’s health department said yesterday. The city government said the results confirmed that none of the 80 students tested at the preschool had ingested sedatives. New Taipei City offered students at the Sijhih preschool free urine and blood tests to allay parents’ concerns after the parents of one the school’s students tested their child’s urine for sedatives earlier this month, but the low level of benzodiazepine detected was considered negative.
DIPLOMACY
Belize delegation arrives
Belizean Minister of National Defense and Border Security Florencio Marin arrived in Taiwan yesterday on his first trip to the nation, which ends on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said. Marin plans to visit the Ministry of National Defense, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, which is Taiwan’s top military research unit, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and local shipbuilding companies, MOFA said in a news release. Marin is leading a six-member delegation that includes Belizean Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Christopher Coye, and Belizean Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Defense and Border Security Dario Tapia, it added. Marin previously served as deputy prime minister under former Belizean prime minister George Cadle Price, as well as deputy leader of the opposition People’s United Party. Taiwan established official diplomatic ties with the Central American country in 1989.
TRAFFIC
Truck kills pedestrian
A 20-year-old man died on Sunday night shortly after being struck by a tow truck as he was crossing a street in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重), city authorities said. The man, surnamed Men (門), was walking on a pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Shuiyang and Chenggong roads when he was hit by the truck at about 8pm, the New Taipei City Police Department said, without saying whether the pedestrian light was green. The tow truck hit Men head-on, and its windshield cracked on impact, police said. The 34-year-old driver of the tow truck, surnamed Chang (張), apparently did not see Men on the crosswalk, police said. Chang tested negative for alcohol, they said. Police said there were no CCTV cameras at the intersection, but they have interviewed eyewitnesses and collected evidence. Shuiyang Road is a five-lane motorway divided by a traffic island, with a speed limit of 50kph.
HEALTH
Vaccine payout approved
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has agreed to pay NT$500,000 under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to a man in his 30s who developed adverse reactions to the AstraZeneca vaccine for COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control said on Saturday. The man, a New Taipei City resident surnamed Su (粟), developed a fever and a headache nine days after receiving a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. He immediately sought medical attention, and was later diagnosed as having thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, a rare blood-clotting condition, the centers said. Health authorities linked the cause to the AstraZeneca vaccine, the ministry said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
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