SOCIETY
Students win math prizes
Taiwan won two golds, two silvers and two bronzes at the International Mathematical Olympiad, ranking 11th among the 108 countries that took part, the Ministry of Education said in a news release on Monday. The Taiwanese team was made up of six high-school students, with Lee Tien-hui (李天輝) of Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School and Cho Yu-an (卓育安) of Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School winning the gold medals, the ministry said. The silver medals were won by Chiang En-hua (江恩驊) and Chang Ting-wei (張庭瑋) of Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School, while schoolmate Chang Chi-an (張齊安) received a bronze medal, as did Hsu Meng-che (許孟哲) of the Kaohsiung school, it said. The two gold medal winners would receive a cash award of NT$200,000 (US$6,090.51) from the ministry, while the silver medal winners would receive NT$100,000 and the bronze winners NT$50,000, it said.
SOCIETY
Drinks shops fined
Seven shops in Taipei that sell hand-shaken drink and ice products have been fined after their products failed food safety inspections, the Taipei Department of Health said on Monday. The department in late April began random testing of hand-shaken drinks, ice cream and other cold products and ingredients from shops across the capital. The results of the latest batch of testing released on Monday showed that of 103 products tested, 25 failed an initial test, with suppliers asked to address the issues. However, seven products failed a second round of testing for microorganisms, the department said. The products are from seven shops, which were fined NT$30,000 to NT$3 million for breaching the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), Food and Pharmaceutical Management Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) told a news conference. The seven items were Blackball Guting Store’s “four seasons spring tea,” Truedan Neihu Jiangnan Store’s “fresh green tea with orange flavor,” Hugdayday’s “oolong tea,” Hsin Yue shaved ice store’s “red bean milk ice,” Yokohama Steakhouse Breeze Nanjing Branch’s “vanilla ice cream,” Matsu Milk Tea Wenshan Muhsin Store’s “Matsu milk tea” and Journey Kaffe Yangguang Store’s “chocolate banana smoothie,” the department said. The department also tested eight dehydrated ingredients, with two items found to contain preservatives, Lin said, adding that the stores have been asked to pull the items and the firms that produced them would be fined by the local governments that oversee them.
POLITICS
Taichung’s Lu leaves for US
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) departed for the US late on Monday for a 10-day visit, her first trip to the US since taking office at the end of 2018. Before leaving, Lu said she was making the trip to boost ties, as Taichung has 16 sister cities and two friendship cities in the US, the most of any country. She and city officials would also visit high-tech companies, meet with Taichung businesspeople working in the US, and overseas compatriots in San Francisco and greater Los Angeles, Lu said. Tacoma and Seattle in Washington, and Cupertino and San Diego in California are among the key stops on her itinerary, which lists the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle and the San Diego Convention Center as destinations, the Taichung City Government said. With Typhoon Gaemi approaching Taiwan, Lu said she held a meeting before her departure to review and organize response measures, and would return to Taiwan early if necessary.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to