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One of the top stories from this past week involved the US State Department urging China to open discussions on a series of new flight routes passing over the Taiwan Strait.
China had unilaterally announced it would begin allowing airlines to operate on a series of four new flight routes beginning in March. The announcement has sparked concerns about conflict with existing routes between Taiwan and the outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu. The routes’ proximity to Taiwan has also raised questions of national security.
China’s foreign ministry said Thursday that it negotiated the new routes with the US in 2007. A ministry spokesperson said the International Civil Aviation Organization has already approved the routes and assigned them with codes.
However, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday that the Chinese foreign ministry’s statement contained “inaccuracies”. The State Department said the US Federal Aviation Administration neither conducted independent safety evaluations of the new routes nor cooperated with Chinese authorities to assess the new routes’ safety.
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Also this past week, HIV-positive foreign nationals will no longer be subject to forced deportation. That’s because of a revision to a statute governing their rights.
The revision, passed Tuesday, also makes Taiwan the world’s 140th country to allow HIV-positive people to stay.
Under the revision, HIV-positive foreign nationals will be eligible to receive medical treatment in Taiwan though they are responsible for medical costs.
Under the original laws, foreign nationals were required to conduct HIV screening tests if they stayed in Taiwan more than three months. They would face forced deportation if the test results are positive.
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And finally this past week, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu has taken over as the chairman of the ruling KMT.
At a ceremony on Monday, Chu replaced President Ma Ying-jeou to become the leader of one of Taiwan’s biggest political parties. Ma resigned in early December following the KMT’s setback in last year’s local elections.
Chu vowed to push for reforms, though he said the KMT’s vision and policies are in line with mainstream opinion.
The newly-elected KMT chairman said that there is plenty of room for cooperation between the Cabinet and the legislature.