■Internet
E-mails protest against BBC
A pro-Taiwan Web site recently launched a "one man, one e-mail" campaign against the BBC's online Chinese news service because it places Taiwan-based news in its China coverage section (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/chinese/news/default2.stm) section. The Countering the Media Web site has asked visitors to its site to send an e-mail to BBC's online Chinese news service to protest their coverage. The Web site also urged people to e-mail the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government Information Office to push them to raise the issue with the BBC. The Web site published its own protest e-mail to the British company that said, "Taiwan is not part of China. We can not accept that the BBC put Taiwan news as part of China news, just like you will not accept putting British news as part of American news."
■ Custody battle
Chen seeks win-win situation
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that he wants a win-win result in the custody battle concerning a Taiwan- Brazilian orphan. "I am very concerned about Iruan Ergui Wu's (吳憶樺) wish to stay in Taiwan. Government agencies will try their best to help, but we must also respect the judicial procedure," Chen said in his newsletter posted on the Internet yesterday. "I believe we all hope there will be a satisfactory solution and there will be a win-win situation, so that Iruan can grow up happily," Chen said. Chen was responding to a question e-mailed to him by a Taiwan youth who asked Chen to help Iruan provided that Chen did not interfere with the legal procedure of the custody battle.
■ Survey
Public wants independence
The majority of Taiwanese polled by a popular cable TV news station said they were leaning more toward independence, not unification with China. The TVBS survey released yesterday said that 42 percent of the respondents said they were more partial to a permanent split with China. But 37 percent said they favored unifying with China and healing the rift caused by a civil war more than five decades ago, the poll said. The pollsters didn't ask the respondents if they wanted to maintain the status quo -- not declaring formal independence, while not being committed to eventual unification with China. But 8 percent said they favored the status quo, and 13 percent had no opinion, TVBS said. When asked if they favored unifying with China or becoming part of the US, 49 percent said they would rather unify with China. Twenty-nine percent favored joining the US, while 10 percent opposed both options and 13 percent had no opinion, the poll said.
■ Entertainment
Jackie Chan in Taipei
Hong Kong megastar Jackie Chan (成龍) says he's sticking with kung-fu movies and has no plans to act in films featuring other martial arts, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which have become popular in recent years. "My fans and producers have also dissuaded me from switching," to other martial arts, Chan told reporters yesterday. The actor was in Taiwan promoting his latest movie, Shanghai Knights, about a US sheriff from the Old West who goes to London to track down his father's killer. Chan said that in kung-fu films, the actors kick and box, and need to be more skillful than in other martial arts films, such as the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where the actors often fly or perform other gravity-defying acts.
Agencies
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taipei over Beijing — a message that participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials. “Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,” said Galeano, a member of the newly-formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China. This trip and others like it — which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo
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