■Diplomacy
Official defends consul
Costa Rican Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar said on Thursday there is no evidence linking honorary Taiwanese consul Eugene Wu to political campaign fund raising. Tovar was responding to an opposition lawmaker who demanded earlier this week that the Foreign Ministry investigate whether the businessman made contributions to the campaign of President Abel Pacheco. Lawmaker Humberto Arce said that Wu lobbied to gather funds for Pacheco, who was elected in April last year. Pacheco's government is embroiled in a scandal over US$500,000 in unreported donations from two Taiwanese firms that were deposited in a secret account in Panama. Tovar said Wu, one of Taiwan's wealthiest businessmen, was named honorary consul in 1996. He said that Costa Rica "has no information that he might have taken part in activities to raise funds."
■ Reconstruction
921 projects almost done
The director of the 921 Earthquake Post-Disaster Recovery Commission said yesterday that after four years of efforts, reconstruction in the wake of the devastating 7.3-magnitude earthquake is more than 95 percent complete. Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪) complained that every year around the anniversary of the earthquake that claimed more than 2,300 lives and caused tens of millions of dollars-worth of damage, someone will criticize the reconstruction work. "However, those same people are silent about reconstruction prior to September and after October," Kuo said, adding that such blistering criticism and finger-pointing are unfair for those who have dedicated themselves to the reconstruction. She said that those who are genuinely concerned about the reconstruction "should first understand the situation of the reconstruction and help with the construction, rather than using photos and words to smear the reconstruction efforts."
■ Health
Kinmen wants better service
Kinmen County Magistrate Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) and other officials demanded yesterday that the central government help the island improve its medical care. The officials made the remarks during a meeting with a Taipei Veterans General Hospital delegation led by hospital superintendent Lee Liang-hsiung (李良雄). The Tri-Service General Hospital was in charge of Kinmen's medical service system until its contract ended in July last year. Kinmen County Hospital then took over but it has just 24 doctors. Lee noted that patients in critical condition have to be transported to Taiwan for medical treatment, with an average of one such trip having to be made every two days. He said medical services are required by Kinmen's residents, Taiwanese businesspeople, Aborigines working on the island and tourists, running up annual expenses of between NT$70 million and NT$80 million (US$2.05 million to 2.34 million).
■ Weather
Choiwan skirts Taiwan
Typhoon Choiwan, located about 280km south of the Ryukyus yesterday morning, was moving north at 12kph, with little influence on Taiwan's weather. The Central Weather Bureau said predicted sporadic showers in northeastern Taiwan for yesterday. The weather in other parts of the country was expected to be cloudy. Temperatures were expected to reach 34℃ in most parts of the nation yesterday.
Agencies
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
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
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