MILITARY
Mirage flights resume
Taiwan’s Mirage 2000 fighters returned to normal flying operations early yesterday after being grounded for safety checks following a crash earlier this month, a military source said. Flight operations resumed when a twin-seater Mirage 2000 copiloted by Major General Pan Tung-chu (潘東櫸), the leader of the Hsinchu-based Second Tactical Fighter Wing, took to the air yesterday morning, the source said. Another pilot was seen in the plane with Pan in an air force photo, but no further details were provided. The resumption of normal flight operations came after the air force lifted the grounding order for all of Taiwan’s 50-plus Mirage 2000s following the completion of a round of safety checks in the wake of an incident on Sept. 10. Preliminary indications were that one of the crashed fighter’s engines had lost thrust, the air force said. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
SOCIETY
Fire drill in Kaohsiung
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency on Monday advised people in Kaohsiung not to panic if they receive a forest fire drill text warning on their phones on Friday. A message reading: “Forest Fire Alert Drill. Please don’t panic” would be delivered through the Public Warning Cell Broadcast Service between 2:30pm and 3:30pm to devices in Tianliao (田寮) and Cishan (旗山) districts, the agency said. The drill is part of the agency’s efforts to help raise awareness of forest fires in higher-risk areas in central and southern Taiwan, particularly during next month’s dry season, the agency added. From 2019 to last year, Taiwan reported an average of 53.4 forest fires each year, 97 percent of which were caused by human factors, the agency said. Under Article 34 of the Forestry Act (森林法), the lighting of fires in forest areas or forest reserves is strictly prohibited unless prior approval is received from the authorities. Violators face a prison sentence of three to 10 years as well as a fine of up to NT$600,000 (US$18,770).
FOOD SAFETY
KFC seasoning stopped
A shipment of chicken seasoning imported from Thailand for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) was found to contain a banned pesticide and stopped by officials from entering Taiwan. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday published a list of 11 items that were found to be substandard after being inspected at the border over the past few months. Among them was a shipment of 2,024.42kg of chicken seasoning from Thailand in which 0.1mg/kg of the banned pesticide ethylene oxide was found during testing that began on July 22, the FDA said. FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said the importer of the spices, Jardine Food Services (Taiwan) Co (富利食品), which operates KFC and Pizza Hut in Taiwan, is to be subject to batch-by-batch inspections of its imported ingredients. The products imported by Jardine were previously under a heightened inspection rate of 50 percent, up from the customary 20 percent, Lin said. Condiments and spices imported from Thailand by other companies would also continue to be inspected at the higher rate until the end of the year, Lin said. The other items on yesterday’s list were tested from July 2 to Sept. 6. Among them was a shipment of 1,312.5kg of banana chips imported from the Philippines that was found to contain excessive amounts of the toxic substance benzopyrene and prohibited from entering Taiwan.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
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