POLITICS
Ma Ying-jeou visiting the US
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) departed to the US on Sunday, where he plans to deliver a speech at New York University, meet with academics from two Washington-based think tanks and attend a banquet hosted by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Ma’s office said in a news release. Ma is also to lead a delegation of Taiwanese students from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation’s Dajiu Academy to visit the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Committee on US-China Relations in New York. During the trip, they are to meet with Brookings Institution and Heritage Foundation academics at forums in Washington and members of the Committee of 100, a nonprofit US leadership organization composed of US citizens of Chinese descent. They are also to visit the New York headquarters of the World Journal, the largest Chinese-language newspaper in the US. Hsiao is to hold a dinner banquet in Ma’s honor at Twin Oaks in Washington.
WEATHER
Cooler weather forecast
Seasonal northeasterly winds are to affect Taiwan’s weather twice this week, bringing precipitation and lower temperatures, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Sunday. The first northeasterly wind system is likely to arrive today, while the second is to affect Taiwan from Friday to Sunday, CWA forecaster Chen I-hsiu (陳伊秀) said. The first system is to bring mild showers to the eastern half of Taiwan and the Hengchun Peninsula. With pressure increasing over the Pacific tomorrow and on Thursday, most of Taiwan would have cloudy skies with a chance of sun, but eastern Taiwan and mountainous areas would experience afternoon showers, Chen said. Northeasterly winds arriving on Friday would bring atmospheric precipitation, leading to periodic rain north of Taoyuan and in mountainous areas in the north and east, she said. This week, temperatures in the north and east would hit highs of 25°C to 27°C, while lows would range from 21°C to 24°C. Central and southern Taiwan would have highs of 29°C to 31°C and lows of 22°C to 25°C, she said.
AGRICULTURE
Official talks dairy concerns
Changhua County Commissioner Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) on Sunday praised her county’s dairy industry, but called on the central government to improve its management of dairy imports at the source. Changhua producers are not worried about competition from foreign countries, but they hope the government would require the place of origin to be clearly marked on imported milk, Wang said. Wang made the appeal as tariffs on dairy products from New Zealand are to be reduced to zero by Jan. 1, 2025, under the Taiwan-New Zealand Economic Cooperation Agreement. She did not elaborate on why she had the concerns.
HEALTHCARE
NHI expands cancer coverage
From next month, people with two types of cancer would be eligible to receive chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatment under the National Health Insurance (NHI) system, the National Health Insurance Administration said on Sunday. The treatment, which takes immune T-cells and modifies them with CARs so that they can recognize and destroy cancer cells, would be available to people with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma that meet certain criteria, the agency said. Although the exact criteria have yet to be finalized, it is estimated that about 110 people would benefit, it said.
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
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