SOCIETY
Family given compensation
The family of a man who died from an adverse reaction to a tetanus vaccine has received NT$2.5 million (US$78,306) in compensation, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said. The man, 50, was given a tetanus shot after being bitten by a dog, but eventually died from heart and lung failure due to an allergic reaction to tetanus antibodies, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) deputy director-general Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said. An autopsy showed that emphysema, pulmonary hypertension and coronary artery disease contributed to his death, the CDC said. The compensation amount was decided based on medical records, clinical responses and related tests by the ministry’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). The man’s family would also get an additional NT$300,000 for funeral expenses, the CDC said. The tetanus vaccine might cause shock due to an allergic reaction in approximately one to three out of 100,000 cases, it added. This is the first time the family of a deceased tetanus vaccine recipient has received compensation under the VICP, Lo said.
EVENTS
Jay Chou to sing in Dome
Pop star Jay Chou (周杰倫) is set to become the first singer to hold a solo concert at the Taipei Dome, when he brings his “Carnival” tour to the baseball stadium in December, his record company JVR Music said on Friday. “It would be Jay Chou’s first solo concert in Taipei in seven years, and the first such concert at the Taipei Dome,” it said. JVR Music quoted Chou as saying that he hopes to offer fans new experiences. Chou began the tour in Shanghai on October 2019 to mark 20 years of being in the music business, but it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour resumed in December 2022 and Chou performed two concerts this year, one in the O2 Arena in London and another in Paris. No concert dates or other details were given in the statement. Before Chou’s “Carnival” tour, the Taipei Dome is to host the very first non-sports event since it opened in October last year — the National Day Gala on Oct. 5 — during which singer Jody Chiang (江蕙) is to give her first public performance since she retired nine years ago.
DIPLOMACY
Taiwan to cohost WTO talk
Taiwan is to cohost a discussion session at the WTO’s Public Forum, which is to be held from Sept. 10 to 13 in Geneva, Switzerland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The seminar, titled “Greener and Inclusive Economies in the Name of Re-globalization: Mutual Supportiveness of Government and Private Approaches,” would be organized by Taiwan’s WTO mission and the Bern-based World Trade Institute (WTI). Taiwan has been a WTO member under the name The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu since January 2002. The seminar would be live streamed on Sept. 11 at 7:30pm and would feature Acer Inc corporate sustainability officer Grace Liu (劉靜靜) and Cindy Lin (林茂生), executive vice president of Fubon Financial Holdings and head of the enterprise’s sustainability and corporate communications division. The two speakers would share their experiences in working in Taiwan’s high-tech manufacturing and financial services industries, and in promoting sustainable development in these sectors, the ministry said. Scholars from the WTI would also share their views on how to build a green and inclusive economy, it 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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