HEALTH
One dies of food poisoning
Another person died of last month’s food poisoning outbreak at the Xinyi branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, bringing the number of deaths to three, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said yesterday. As of Friday, 35 people were reported to have fallen ill after dining at the Xinyi restaurant from March 19 to 24, including two deaths reported late last month. The latest death was one of the four severe cases under intensive care. The patient died of multiple organ failure, Wang said. Taipei Medical University Hospital in a text message said that the patient was transferred to the hospital on March 24 and died yesterday. Wang said that the condition of the remaining three severe cases remains the same. One person has received a liver transplant and is in the process of recovering, while others have had severe infection, he added. It is clear that this incident is a case of bongkrek acid-led poisoning, Wang said.
SEISMICITY
Aftershocks normal: CWA
An earthquake measuring magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan early yesterday is an aftershock of the April 3 Hualien earthquake that claimed at least 18 lives, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The quake, which struck at 2:21am, was the largest aftershock since a magnitude 6.3 earthquake rattled the eastern county early on Tuesday. People in 13 administrative regions received emergency alerts, the agency said. Two more aftershocks of stronger than magnitude 4.5 on the Richter scale followed the quake yesterday within half an hour, including one of magnitude 5.8 at 2:49am. Their epicenter was in Hualien County’s Sioulin Township (秀林), near the epicenter of the April 3 quake. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) said that large earthquakes tend to be followed by aftershocks over a long period. The CWA has observed no anomalies in terms of the aftershocks, he added. As of 6am yesterday, Taiwan has experienced 1,303 aftershocks since the April 3 quake, with six registering at least magnitude 6, and 63 between magnitudes 5 and 6, the CWA data showed.
SCIENCE
Bacterial strain discovered
A research team from National Taiwan Ocean University’s (NTOU) Institute of Marine Biology has discovered a bacterial strain with the potential to degrade plastic, the university said in a statement on Monday. The team, led by assistant professor Ho Ying-ning (何攖寧), said that it has found a marine bacterial strain isolated from marine sediment on Taiwan’s northern coast, which they named Oceanimonas pelagia NTOU-MSR1. The bacterium, possibly a new member of the Oceanimonas genus, was able to biodegrade 10 to 15 percent of polyethylene, which is one of the most commonly used plastics worldwide, in 120 days. The strain was also able to produce a biosurfactant that emulsified 40 percent of diesel fuel within two weeks, the statement said. Genomic analysis of the bacteria showed genes associated with the biosynthesis of polyhydroxybutyrate, a substance considered a biodegradable plastic alternative, it added. Ho said the strain’s potential for environment restoration and commercial use would be explored with plans to use it in environmental protection. The findings were last month published in Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, an international scientific journal covering microbiology.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
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