Some Taiwanese businesspeople living in China's Sichuan Province had yet to be reached yesterday following a 7.9 magnitude quake which hit the province.
A total of 82 Taiwanese tourists were still missing at press time last night.
The Travel Agent Association (TAA) told a press conference last night that it was still trying to contact 82 Taiwanese tourists whom it had not been able to reach by telephone since the earthquake struck.
These tourists were on a package tour to Jiuzhaigou (九寨溝, one of the famous tourist attractions in Sichuan.
Earlier, it had said that 14 tourists were traveling around Maoshien, a city near the epicenter in Wenchuan, while another 94 tourists were near Chiangyo and Pingwu, two cities east of Wenchuan.
The number did not include those who traveled on their own.
The TAA said at least 2,360 Taiwanese tourists had been traveling in Sichuan when the earthquake occurred.
Many of the tourists could not be contacted because of the breakdown of communication and transportation networks in the province.
TAA chairman Yao Ta-kuang (姚大光 said the association has dispatched three representatives to Sichuan and would form an emergency taskforce to help arrange return trips for the tour groups.
Yao also said air traffic in Jiuzhaigou was blocked and that the association could dispatch humanitarian charter flights to the airport in Jiuzhaigou once it is able to help bring the tourists back.
There were 2,897 Taiwanese tourists still in Sichuan, according to a press release issued by the TAA yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, the Mainland Council Affairs (MAC) said at a separate press conference yesterday afternoon that the only Taiwanese casualty so far was Chu Shao-wei (朱紹維, a four-year-old boy who died when a house in Mianzhu City was flattened.
MAC Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通 said both of the boy's parents were in Taiwan and that the government was helping the father return to Mianzhu as soon as possible.
Another four year-old Taiwanese girl, Yu Chia-rong (余佳蓉, is missing. Her father, Yu Da-jun (余大軍, has sought the help of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) to establish contact with her and her parents-in-law.
So far, the MAC and SEF do not have a figure on Taiwanese students in China.
Meanwhile, citing preliminary information acquired by the semi-official Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, Yeh Ming-shui (葉明水, deputy secretary-general of TAITRA, yesterday said some Taiwan businesspeople, particularly those near Wenchuan, the epicenter of the tremor located some 100km from Chengdu, remained unreachable.
TAITRA is the only agency affiliated with the government which has personnel stationed in Chengdu.
Yeh said there are more than 600 Taiwanese companies in Sichuan, including offices and stores of prominent conglomerates, such as the Sogo Pacific Department Store and Giant bicycles.
A representative of the Taiwanese businessmen's association in Chengdu said yesterday that most members of the association had been accounted for and were safe and sound.
Speaking by telephone with the Central News Agency, a representative of the association surnamed Lee said that it began contacting members at midnight last night after the telephone service resumed.
Lee said most members of the association had been contacted by 11am yesterday, with none of them reporting any injuries. Lee said that the association's 6th floor office in Chengdu suffered only minor damage in the earthquake and said that many members of the association had begun to make preparations to assist in relief efforts.
Citing the uncertain circumstances following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) advised Taiwanese residents yesterday against visiting the quake-affected areas.
"We are not issuing a travel warning for Sichuan Province, but we urge travel agencies and travelers to understand the actual situation before making any plans to go there," said Yu Fang-lai (游方來, deputy minister of the MOTC. "The public should have the sense and judgment to make their own decision."
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS