MILITARY
Launch no threat: MND
A Chinese launch vehicle carrying a satellite flew over southern Taiwan yesterday afternoon, but it presented no threat to the country, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The rocket was launched at 3pm from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan, China, and it had already left the atmosphere when it passed over Taiwan, the ministry said, adding that it had been closely monitoring the launch, and tracking the real-time information using its intelligence and surveillance systems. It made the information public on Friday to inform Taiwanese about the imminent launch, it said. On Jan. 8, the ministry for the first time sent out a nationwide alert about a Chinese satellite launch. However, the message over the national SMS alert system caused alarm due to an English mistranslation saying: “Missile flyover Taiwan airspace.” The text message advised the public to report any debris to authorities. The ministry later apologized for failing to indicate in English that it was a satellite, not a missile.
SOCIETY
Leave program draws 89
A total of 89 public and private-sector units have joined a pilot program for flexible parental leave, which allows employees to apply for leave five or seven days beforehand, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday. At the launch of the small-scale program on May 9, the ministry invited entities from the public and private sectors to submit their plans by the end of last month to offer flexible leave rules. Ministry official Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛) yesterday said that 89 small and medium-sized enterprises had signed up and plan to stay with the program until the end of the year. Most of those that registered allow employees to apply for parental leave five or seven days prior, but a few companies allow leave to be decided on a daily basis, Huang said. To address human resources issues that could arise from short notice, the program stipulates that employees should submit applications for parental leave in writing at least five days in advance, but some participants are able to be much more flexible, he said. The ministry would collect feedback from the participants on insights gained during the pilot program and any difficulties encountered, he added.
HEALTHCARE
Panadol prices to rise
The price of Panadol, an over-the-counter painkiller, would increase by NT$10 to NT$15 from next month, the General Medical Practitioners’ Association said on Friday. GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of the product, attributed the price hike to the rising cost of raw materials and increased transportation costs, association chairwoman Shen Tsai-ying (沈采穎) told reporters at a media event. Panadol is one of GlaxoSmithKline’s trade names for paracetamol or acetaminophen, a non-opioid analgesic and antipyretic agent used to treat fever, and mild to moderate pain. With the price hike, other major drugmakers are likely to follow suit, Shen said. People looking to buy painkillers often choose Panadol at their local drugstores, but do not have to stick to a certain brand, she said, adding that other brands that contain acetaminophen, but are not big on marketing, usually cost 50 percent less. The Panadol price hike does not affect the National Health Insurance’s pricing policy, she said. Shen said that she has not heard of other companies looking to hike the price of their drugs next month, but with increases in Taiwan’s electricity rates and the salary of pharmacists, local consumers will likely have to pay more for medicine.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
‘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
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
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