Week Four: Cases of Dengue Fever Multiply in Southern Taiwan

The incidence of dengue fever in Taiwan has risen sharply in recent days, pushing the number of cases since May close to 10,000, the country’s Centers for Disease Control reported on Tuesday. The government announced on Monday that it was creating a central command office to combat the rapid increase in the disease, which has been concentrated in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung.

The recent increase follows the worst summer for dengue fever in more than a decade on the island. Taiwan had more than 4,000 dengue cases from May 1 through August, the highest number for the period since systematic record keeping began in 2003, the Central News Agency reported. The cases have more than doubled since Sept. 1.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne(蚊子傳播) disease that causes fever, headaches, nausea(噁心), and joint(關節) and muscle pain. In severe cases, it can lead to dengue hemorrhagic(出血) fever, which is characterized by severe bleeding and circulatory system failures. It is particularly dangerous for children and can lead to death, though with proper medical care, less than 1 percent of cases cause fatalities(死亡), according to the World Health Organization.

Eighteen deaths associated with dengue this year have been confirmed, the C.D.C. of Taiwan said on Tuesday, and an additional 34 deaths are being investigated for links to the disease.

Tainan has been the center of the outbreak(爆發), with 8,666 of the 9,862 cases reported in Taiwan since May 1, including 237 reported on Monday. Kaohsiung has been the second hardest hit, with 1,030 cases, including 50 reported on Monday.

The tourism industry in Tainan, known for its temples and quiet lanes(車道), has suffered because of the outbreak, with visitors down by about 50 percent over the same period last year, the United Daily News reported on Sunday. “The mosquitoes have returned Tainan to Tainan residents,” the newspaper’s headline read, citing a popular Facebook post.

The command center established by the central government includes representatives of the Environmental Protection Administration and the ministries of National Defense and Health and Welfare. The goal is to aid cross-regional(跨區域) prevention efforts, according to a statement from Sun Lih-chyun, a spokesman for the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s cabinet. Over the past month, Taiwan has dispatched(出動) more than 2,500 troops to help with prevention efforts, including spraying insecticide(殺蟲劑) in potential mosquito breeding sites.

Dengue outbreaks are seasonal, with the number of cases expected to decline as temperatures cool in the fall. One year ago, the southern Chinese province of Guangdong recorded one of its worst outbreaks in years, and Japan recorded its first cases of the disease since 1945.

In recent decades, the disease, which is caused by a virus carried by Aedes mosquitoes, has risen sharply around the world because of urbanization(城市化), population growth, climate change, increasing international trade and an explosion in trash that mosquitoes can use as breeding sites, according to the World Health Organization.

http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/taiwan-dengue-fever-tourism-cases/?_r=0

Week Three: Taiwan Formosa Water Park explosion injures hundreds

More than 500 people were injured when fire ripped through crowds at a party at an amusement park outside Taiwan's capital Taipei.

        Saturday's incident at the Formosa Water Park is believed to have happened when a coloured(有色) powder ignited(點燃) after being discharged onto(排放到) the crowd. Footage(鏡頭) showed people panicking(恐慌) and screaming. Inflatable water toys(充氣水上玩具) were shown being used as stretchers(擔架).

        Some 190 people are seriously hurt - 182 are in intensive care. Some of them breathed in the powder, causing respiratory(呼吸) problems.

        Local media said organizers(主辦方) of the Color Play Asia event had been taken in for questioning(質疑) by prosecutors(檢察官).

Skin 'gone'

        Footage of the incident shows a party in full swing when suddenly fire erupts. It was "hell", a male student who sustained(持續) minor injuries said, according to AFP(法新社) news agency.

        "There was blood everywhere, including in the pool where lots of the injured were soaking themselves for relief from the pain." His girlfriend added: "I saw lots of people whose skin was gone." The fire was quickly brought under control, but the cause of the incident is still under investigation.

        The authorities believe something that caught fire caused the coloured powder spray or dust - used to create a party atmosphere - to explode. The substance is also used in other countries. It is made of dried corn(乾玉米) and can be highly flammable(易燃的), our correspondent(信函) says.

        The 519 victims were sent to 41 hospitals, and 413 are still in hospital, say municipal authorities. The incident occurred about 20:30 (12:30 GMT). More than 1,000 people were near the stage at the time. The fire department said: "Our initial understanding is this explosion and fire... was caused by the powder spray. It could have been due to the heat of the lights on the stage".

Soaring temperatures

        Many people flocked to water parks on Saturday as temperatures reached 36.6C (98F) in Taipei and as high as 38C in other parts of Taiwan, says the BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei. New Taipei City's mayor, Eric Chu, ordered an immediate shutdown(關閉) of the water park pending(在…期間) an investigation.

        Taiwan has suffered a series of deadly fires in the past couple of years due partly to poor enforcement(強制) of building and fire safety codes and illegal construction, our correspondent adds.

        A fire earlier this year killed six firefighters, prompting(提示) orders to rectify(糾正) illegally constructed buildings and upgrade firefighters' equipment and training.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33300970

Week Two: Aung San Suu Kyi, opposition leader in Myanmar, became an international symbol of peaceful resistance in the face of oppression as a result of her 15 years under house arrest.

The 70-year-old spent much of her time between 1989 and 2010 in some form of detention because of her efforts to bring democracy to military-ruled Myanmar (Burma). In 1991, a year after her National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming(壓倒性的) victory in an election the junta(議會) later nullified(廢止), she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The committee chairman called her "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless". She was sidelined(作壁上觀) for Myanmar's first elections in two decades on 7 November 2010 but released from house arrest six days later. As the new government embarked(開始) on a process of reform, Aung San Suu Kyi - known to many as "The Lady" - and her party rejoined the political process.

On 1 April 2012 she stood for parliament in a by-election, arguing it was what her supporters wanted even if the country's reforms were "not irreversible(不可逆)". She and her fellow NLD(全國民主聯盟) candidates won a landslide victory and weeks later the former political prisoner was sworn into parliament, a move unimaginable before the 2010 polls(民意調查).

Barred from running

        However, Ms Suu Kyi has since been frustrated with the pace of democratic development. In November 2014, she warned that Myanmar had not made any real reforms in the past two years and warned that the US - which dropped most of its sanctions(制裁) against the country in 2012 - had been "overly optimistic" in the past. And in June, a vote in Myanmar's parliament failed to remove the army's veto(否決) over constitutional(構成) change. Ms Suu Kyi is also barred(禁止) from running for president because her two sons hold British not Burmese passports - a ruling she says is unfair.

        Although her party(黨) is popular, Ms Suu Kyi has come in for criticism since her election by some rights groups for what they say has been a failure to speak up for Myanmar's minority(少數) groups during a time of ethnic(民族) violence in parts of the country.

Political pedigree

        Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero, General Aung San. He was assassinated(被暗殺) during the transition period in July 1947, just six months before independence, when Ms Suu Kyi was only two. In 1960 she went to India with her mother Daw Khin Kyi, who had been appointed Myanmar's ambassador(大使) in Delhi(德里). Four years later she went to Oxford University in the UK, where she studied philosophy, politics and economics. There she met her future husband, academic Michael Aris.

        After stints(限制) of living and working in Japan and Bhutan, she settled in the UK to raise their two children, Alexander and Kim, but Myanmar was never far from her thoughts. When she arrived back in Rangoon (Yangon) in 1988 - to look after her critically ill mother - Myanmar was in the midst of major political upheaval(動盪). Thousands of students, office workers and monks(僧侶) took to the streets demanding democratic reform.

        "I could not as my father's daughter remain indifferent to all that was going on," she said in a speech in Rangoon on 26 August 1988, and was propelled(推進的) into leading the revolt(起義) against the then-dictator(當時的獨裁者), General Ne Win.

        Inspired by the non-violent campaigns of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King and India's Mahatma Gandhi, she organized(有組織的) rallies(集會) and travelled around the country, calling for peaceful democratic reform and free elections. But the demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the army, who seized power in a coup on 18 September 1988. Ms Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest the following year. The military government called national elections in May 1990 which Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD convincingly(令人信服) won - however, the junta(軍政府) refused to hand over control.

House arrest

        Ms Suu Kyi remained under house arrest in Rangoon for six years, until she was released in July 1995. She was again put under house arrest in September 2000, when she tried to travel to the city of Mandalay in defiance of travel restrictions. She was released unconditionally(無條件) in May 2002, but just over a year later she was put in prison following a clash between her supporters and a government-backed mob(暴民). She was later allowed to return home - but again under effective house arrest.

        During periods of confinement(坐月子), Ms Suu Kyi busied herself studying and exercising. She meditated(打坐), worked on her French and Japanese language skills, and relaxed by playing Bach on the piano. At times she was able to meet other NLD officials and selected diplomats. But during her early years of detention(拘留) she was often in solitary confinement. She was not allowed to see her two sons or her husband, who died of cancer in March 1999.

        The military authorities offered to allow her to travel to the UK to see him when he was gravely(嚴重的) ill, but she felt compelled to refuse for fear she would not be allowed back into the country. Her last period of house arrest ended in November 2010 and her son Kim Aris was allowed to visit her for the first time in a decade. When by-elections(補選) were held in April 2012, to fill seats vacated by politicians who had taken government posts, she and her party contested seats, despite reservations.

        "Some are a little bit too optimistic about the situation," she said in an interview before the vote. "We are cautiously optimistic. We are at the beginning of a road."

        She and the NLD won 43 of the 45 seats contested, in an emphatic(語調強的) statement of support. Weeks later, Ms Suu Kyi took the oath(誓言) in parliament and became the leader of the opposition. And the following May, she embarked on a visit outside Myanmar for the first time in 24 years, in a sign of apparent confidence that its new leaders would allow her to return.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11685977

Week One: Migrants on boat rescued off Indonesia recall horrific scenes

     Nearly 800 desperate migrants from Burma and Bangladesh were rescued from a sinking vessel by fishermen off Indonesia’s coast on Friday as the boat people crisis in south-east Asia continued to escalate.

    Human Rights Watch condemned Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia for playing a deadly game of “human ping pong” in refusing to allow more dangerously overladen(裝載過多的) boats carrying thousands fleeing poverty and persecution(迫害) to land on their shores.

    As the United Nations warned of a “massive humanitarian(人道主義的)disaster”, up to 8,000 migrants were believed to be abandoned at sea by smugglers(走私者) scared off by Thailand’s recent crackdown on human traffickers.

    The vessels are packed with ethnic Muslim Rohingya escaping discrimination and sectarian(宗教的) violence in Buddhist-majority Burma and impoverished(窮困的) economic migrants fleeing Bangladesh.

    In an impassioned plea(懇求) to regional governments on Friday, the International Organisation(組織) for Migration, implored: “In the name of humanity, let these migrants land.”

    But Burma, which refuses citizenship to the Rohingya, looked likely to snub a regional meeting called by Thailand on 29 May to address the growing crisis.

    Reports emerged of horrific scenes on the sinking boat, with 794 on board including 61 children, before it was rescued 30 miles off Indonesia’s coast on Friday after two months at sea.

    Passengers said the captain fled by speedboat five days ago after destroying the engine, and fighting between the Rohingya and Bangladeshis broke out as food and water ran out. Dozens died in the fighting or from illness, it was said. Among the dead was the 20-year-old brother of Manu Abudul Salam, 19, a Rohingya. “They thought the captain was from our country, so they attacked us with stick and knives,” she told Associated Press.

    “If I had known that the boat journey would be so horrendous, I would rather have just died in Myanmar [Burma],” she sobbed.

     Bangladeshi survivor Saidul Islam, 19, said the vessel was hot and cramped. “We could not stand up. When we asked for water, the captain hit us with wire.”

    Another, named Amin,  said the captain would shoot dead migrants who asked for food.

    The vessel was half under water when found off Aceh province on Thursday with children swimming around it. Six fishing boats ferried the exhausted passengers ashore, where they were taken to a warehouse in Langsa. Eight who were critically ill were taken to hospital.

    “They were killing each other, throwing people overboard,” Sunarya, the police chief in Langsa, told AFP. “Because [the boat] was overcapacity, some people had to go and probably they were defending themselves.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/15/asian-migrant-crisis-grows-as-700-more-boat-people-rescued-off-indonesia