■ Trade
Japan lifts poultry ban
Japan has lifted a ban on Taiwan's poultry products after Japanese inspectors verified that Taiwan had recovered from a bird-flu outbreak that hit seven months ago, officials said yesterday. Japan began blocking poultry imports from Taiwan on Jan. 16 as officials slaughtered tens of thousands of chickens infected by the virus that has ravaged the poultry industry throughout Asia. But Taiwan's birds were infected with a less dangerous strain of bird flu, not the version that has killed people in other parts of the region. The Council of Agriculture said yesterday that Japanese inspectors visited the country from July 5 to July 9, and that Japan decided on Monday to lift the ban immediately. Poultry products produced or raised after June 11 will be allowed into the Japanese market, the council said.
■ Typhoon damage
Taoyuan losses jump
Typhoon Aere has delivered a significant blow to Taoyuan County's industrial and private sectors, with industrial losses rising to NT$2.5 billion and business losses to NT$84.5 million. Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) said water shortages had affected 250 of the county's businesses and 2 million people. To help county residents with the expense of buying drinking water, the Cabinet yesterday agreed to allocate NT$200 million to the county government for disposal. Ho restated the government's determination to have the county's water supply restored by next Wednesday and southern Taoyuan's water supply partially restored by tomorrow. About 320,000 families living in the south of the county are still without water, while rationing has been in force in the county's north since last Thursday.
■ Business
Magazine lauds its readers
People in their 30s are the most enterprising, with 41.8 percent wanting to start their own business, according to the results of a survey released by the newly launched 30 Magazine yesterday. This compares with 37 percent of those in their 40s and 36 percent in their 20s, the survey said. The survey was conducted from Aug. 5 to Aug. 8 among 1,207 adults aged between 20 and 49. It said that the top three entrepreneurial icons are Formosa Plastics Group chairman Wang Yung-ching (王永慶), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀). As to the kind of businesses they would run, 30 percent said they would open a fashion store, boutique or restaurant, while 12.3 percent said they would open a regular shop and 7.8 percent said they wanted to launch a company.
■ Politics
Lu speaks on land use
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday called on the government to hammer out measures to improve land preservation. Lu made the appeal while addressing a hearing at the Presidential Office on soil preservation in which experts presented positions on the issue. The nation suffered considerable damage from torrential rain and mudslides after typhoons Mindulle and Aere. Claiming that land preservation and guidelines for industrial development and relocation of residents living in areas "unsuitable for human habitation" are very important, Lu said the government should implement comprehensive and viable soil safeguarding measures. Mudslides were mainly due to the fragility of the land, coupled with a lack of ecological protection and overexploitation of resources, Lu said.
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