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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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