■ Defense
VSE wins Kidd contract
The US-based VSE Corp has won a US Navy contract worth US$8.1 million to overhaul four Kidd-class destroyers destined for Taiwan, Jane's Defence Weekly reported. The second-hand destroyers are part of the decade's most comprehensive arms package offered to Taipei by US President George W. Bush in April last year. The first Kidd-class destroyers could enter service by 2005, the navy estimates, and are a prelude to the nation's acquisition of the even more advanced Aegis air-defense system sometime in the next 10 years, Jane's reported. VSE will undertake logistical support, training and other technical responsibilities, Jane's said in an article published Wednesday.
■ Industry
Lu urges `Taiwanizing' food
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) encouraged food manufacturers yesterday to create their own brand names in order to promote their products in the inter-national market. Address-ing the 2003 Formosan Golden Food Awards ceremony in Kaohsiung, Lu said the country is famous for a great variety of delicious foods. To promote their products internationally, manufac-turers should not only try to improve the quality of their products, but also to create their own brands, she said. The manufacturers should be ambitious and set themselves the goal of "Taiwanizing" the stomachs of all people around the world, she said. The awards were organized by the Kaohsiung-based Taiwan News. Also attending the ceremony were Kaohsiung Vice Mayor Lin Yung-chien (林永堅) and Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄).
■ Politics
Lu urges party examination
The DPP should thoroughly examine its election stra-tegies and seek improve-ments, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday in the wake of the DPP's setback in the Hualien County commissioner by-election. DPP candidate Yu Ying-lung (游盈隆) lost to KMT-PFP candidate Hsieh Shen-san (謝深山). This was the third time that Yu has failed to win the job. Yu said he hopes next year's presi-dential election campaign will focus on public policies, saying the election must not become another ideological battlefield. Chan Chung-yuan (詹中原), a professor at National Chengchi Univer-sity, said that while drafting campaign strategies for
the presidential election, parties can take reference from the Hualien by-election in terms of grassroots support. He pointed out
that the population in Hualien -- - 48 percent Minnan, 21 percent Hakka, 18 percent mainlander and 13 percent indigenous -- is comparable to that of the nation's overall population composition.
■ Academics
Physics olympiad opens
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) opened the 34th International Physics Olympiad in Taipei yesterday. There are 239 high-school students from 54 countries participating in the contest, which runs through next Saturday. During the weeklong contest, partici-pants will work on both written and laboratory tests and will win awards based on the total points garnered by each country's team. The contest was organized by the National Taiwan Normal University with assistance from the Ministry of Education. China is boycotting the event because it is opposed to the games being held in Taiwan.
The international Olympiad is known as the Olympic games for physics.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost