■ Weather
New typhoon nears
Typhoon Songda is spinning toward Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean and could lash the country this weekend, a forecaster said yesterday. If Songda sticks to its current course, its fringe could bring Taiwan heavy rain by Sunday, the Central Weather Bureau said. "There is a chance that
it may hit Taiwan by Monday, but much still depends on
the strength of atmospheric pressure in the north," the bureau said, adding that Songda might shift toward Japan if the high pressure system weakens. Songda was located in the Pacific Ocean about 2,000km east of Taiwan, with winds of 175km per hour, and was moving west at 22kph, the bureau said.
■ Tourism
China Air eyes Japan
China Airlines (CAL) has launched a month-long advertisement campaign on a busy Tokyo railway line as part of efforts to promote tourism in Japan, company officials said yesterday. Posters featuring CAL attendants and local tourist attractions have been placed inside an 11-carriage train on the Yamanote Line, which transports an average 3.6 million passengers
per day, the officials said.
The advertisement ties in
with a "Taiwan Theater" TV commercial produced by
the Tourism Bureau that
has been broadcast on
TV networks in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Osaka, Sendai and Nagoya. The bureau and CAL have also planned an event for Sept. 3 and Sept. 4 at Tokyo's main station to promote "2004 -- Taiwan Tourism Year."
CAL operates 53 flights per
week to Tokyo, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Hiroshima. The airline
also provides one chartered flight per week between Taipei and Hokkaido and has since Aug. 1 offered charter services between Kaohsiung and several popular destinations in Japan.
■ Politics
New KMT faction forms
A new sub-group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators was launched yesterday to push for party reform. The group, called the Taiwan New Hope
Link, has 15 members from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds. The average age of the members is 43 years. The group will first push for reforms to the KMT's nomination system for the legislative elections, group spokesman Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said. The group says the KMT's nomination system for legislators-at-large should also be more open to give more voice to the party's legislators.
■ Diplomacy
Aid for African allies
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will donate money
to four diplomatic allies in Africa to help them combat locust swarms, the ministry said yesterday. It said that northwestern Africa has been plagued by locusts since mid-July and that it would donate US$515,000
to Senegal, Chad, Burkina Faso and Gambia to help them buy pesticides and take other preventive measures. The donation
will convey the concern and friendship that Taiwan feels toward these countries, the ministry said. Meanwhile, under a scholarship set up to promote international exchanges that commenced in September, 37 students from Africa -- three from Burkina Faso, five from Sao Tome and Principe, six each from Malawi and Chad, seven from Gambia and 10 from Senegal -- will come to study in Taiwan. The students will receive up
to NT$30,000 per month during their stay. The program is meant to firm diplomatic ties with African allies.
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