DIPLOMACY
Czech delegation arrives
Czech Senate Vice President Jiri Drahos yesterday arrived in Taiwan at the head of a 19-member delegation that includes Czech Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Innovation Jana Havlikova. During the six-day trip, the group is to meet with President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), among others, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Both sides would exchange views on issues such as trade, technology, education and culture, and deepen cooperation in areas ranging from key industries, science development and talent cultivation to culture and the arts, the ministry said. Drahos is to host a semiconductor business opportunity forum for his country and witness the signing of a cooperation agreement between the National Palace Museum and the National Museum in Prague, it said. He is also to open an exhibition on Czech castles and chateaus at National Taiwan Museum in Taipei and launch a program aimed at boosting Taiwan-Czech supply chain resilience, it said. The delegation also includes Czech Deputy Minister for Digitalization and Innovation Petr Ocko, National Museum director-general Michal Lukes, other government officials and tech experts.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
HEALTH
Medicine being withdrawn
Recalled traditional Chinese medicine that was distributed to pharmacies in five administrative regions would be off the shelves within the week, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday. The ministry on Saturday announced that 12 products made by Tainan-based Juang Chuen Ren Biotechnology Pharmaceutical Co (莊春仁生物科技製藥) were being recalled and that the firm was suspected of producing counterfeit drugs. The quantities of each of the 12 products ranges from seven bottles to more than 200, Department of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy Director Shih Hui-chuan (施惠娟) said yesterday. They were distributed to pharmacies in Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Kaohsiung, Keelung and Tainan, she said. People should not ingest the recalled products, and return them as soon as possible, Shih said. The products are Juang Chuen Ren Guey Fuh Dih Huang Wan (桂附地黃丸), Ren Tsan Guh Chyuan pills (人參固泉丸), Lih Daan Bao Gan Wan (利膽保肝丸), Zi Yun Gao (紫雲膏), Hsieh Kang Nen Ching Hsieh Wan (血康能清血丸), Liu Wei Di Huang San (六味地黃散), Chia Wei Huan Shao Wan (加味還少丸), Gardenia powder (梔子散), Scutellaria powder (黃芩散), Jin Suo Gu Jing Wan (金鎖固精丸), Sharen powder (砂仁散) and Ban Long Wan (斑龍丸).
TRAFFIC
Road open after landslide
The intersection between Beining Road and the entrance to Keelung’s Chaojing Park, which was blocked by a landslide on June 3, was reopened at 2pm yesterday, ahead of schedule. The landslide partially buried nine vehicles and a scooter along Beining Road, injuring four people. Minister of Transportation and Communications Li Men-yen (李孟諺) yesterday said that there is a 6m buffer zone along the reopened section of road. As a result, the road is narrower and the speed limit has been set at 25kph, Lee said. There would be personnel on site monitoring the road at all times, he said. A maintenance project to permanently reinforce the slope adjacent to the road would be completed at a later date, he added.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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