■Travel
More tourists head to Macau
With the danger of SARS diminishing, the number of Taiwanese visitors to Macau has been increasing since early June, according to statistics released yesterday by the Macao authorities. The statistics show that the daily number of Taiwanese travelers to Macau, excluding those who only made a stopover in Macau en route to China, averaged 55 between June 9 and June 20, an increase of 275 percent over the average for the period between April 30 and June 9, at the height of SARS outbreak Macau authorities said they believe the number of Taiwanese travelers to Macau will increase more quickly in July and August. A total of 1.27 million Taiwan visitors came to Macau last year, averaging 3,480 per day.
■ Typhoons
Forecasters get new gear
Meteorology experts are expected to begin monitoring typhoons this summer with new cutting-edge technology and equipment obtained from the US. Under a typhoon research program financed by the National Science Council, meteorologists are expected to be able to fly aboard a specially designed aircraft near approaching typhoons, where they will shoot an "atmospheric sonde," or "radiosonde" observation gear, into the eye of the typhoon to collect data that will give the scientists vital information about the typhoon, said Wu Chun-chieh (吳俊傑) of National Taiwan University, which is managing the program. The NSC program sent four experts to a hurricane research center under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US at the end of last year for a two-month training session, according to Wu. The program, targeting at understanding the dynamic theory of typhoons, will help improve the accuracy of typhoon and rainfall forecasts and will raise Taiwan's prestige in typhoon research, Wu added.
■ Railways
Electrification project ends
The electrification project for the North-Link Railway between Ilan and Hualien in eastern Taiwan will be completed on Wednesday, an official of the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said yesterday. He said that, after the project is completed, the transportation capacity of the 88km railway will increase by more than 30 percent and the time to travel between Taipei and Hualien by express train will be reduced from three hours to two and a half hours. The electrification project is part of TRA's plan to improve the eastern line. The plan will be completed by the end of next year, he added.
■ Security
Restricted airspace violated
A civilian helicopter flew through restricted airspace near the Presidential Office in the second such incident in four days, officials said yesterday. The Bell helicopter flew through the airspace of the Presidential Office at 4:56pm on Saturday after it took off from Sungshan Airport en route to the southern city of Kaohsiung, television news reports said. The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) confirmed the report. "The CAA held two meetings today to investigate the event," a CAA official said, without providing details. A Presidential Office spokesman said: "The Presidential Office took the two events very seriously and asked government agencies to beef up security while looking into the two events." The CAA on Thursday suspended an airport controller after a domestic passenger aircraft flew close to the restricted airspace near the Presidential Office.
Agencies
■Entertainment
TTV selects new anchor
TTV has chosen Berkeley, California native Josi Chow (周季薇) to be its new English-language anchor. The 26-year old Chow will host the Taiwan Outlook English news program weekday mornings from 6am to 6:30am. Chow has a bachelor's degree in economics according to a press release from the station. The release also said that Chow did not study journalism but has been "studying all kinds of English newspapers ... and is working hard to become a professional." According to the press release, Chow said "I'm so nervous and excited."
■ Politics
Hualien race off to start
The KMT will finalize its recommended candidate for the upcoming Hualien County commissioner by-election this week, party officials said yesterday. The issue will be discussed at the Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday, KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) said. Officials from both the KMT and the PFP have said the two parties will field a joint ticket. The KMT is seeking former Cabinet secretary-general Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山) to run, but a number of other hopefuls are also jockeying for candidacy, including former Hualien County commissioner Wu Kuo-tung (吳國棟) and Liu Chao-eh (劉詔娥), widow of the late commissioner Chang Fu-hsing (張福興). On the PFP's side, Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) has also vowed to run.
■ Environment
Heat wave on the way
Taiwan will have hot weather throughout the week, with temperatures rising as high as 34℃, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Staff writer
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS