■ Movies
GIO unveils promotional film
The Government Information Office (GIO) unveiled a short film yesterday as part of its efforts to revive the sagging local movie industry. In the short film, titled Taiwan Film Anna, GIO Director-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) plays a "Dragon Brother" trying hard to please "Taiwan Film Anna," who is played by a fashion model, to symbolize the government's strenuous efforts at revitalizing the sagging movie industry. Lin said at the presentation that it took six hours for him to shoot the six scenes in the film. "My acting skills are lousy, but I thought my appearance might be humorous and thus help raise local people's concern for our movie industry," Lin said. Since Lin assumed his current post, the GIO has formed a special commission to review the government's policy regarding the local film industry and to work out measures to remove any obstacles to the development of the industry.
■ Politics
Candidate walking for votes
Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU, 無黨團結聯盟) legislative candidate Lin Ming-yi (林明義) hit the road yesterday for a 16-day walk around Yunlin County to drum up support prior to the legislative elections. Lin, who joined the NPSU in recent months after having a falling out with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), was accompanied by his mother, NPSU Chairwoman Chang Po-ya (張博雅), NPSU Secretary-General Chen Chieh-ju and supporters at a ceremony marking the beginning of his trek. He is scheduled to walk across all 20 cities, townships and rural townships around Yunlin County over the next 16 days. Lin said that he will walk around the county to help raise Yunlin residents' political awareness and bring them "out of the darkness and deception" which he claimed has long clouded politics in the region. Lin, who had been a KMT legislator for three terms before 2001, is the only candidate that the newly-established NPSU is fielding in Yunlin County.
■ Television
TV festival held in Taipei
The 2004 Taipei TV Festival opened at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall yesterday. The exhibition features a "TV Mall" section for ordinary visitors, which runs through Sunday, and a "TV Market" section for professionals, which will run from Nov. 28 to Nov. 30. The "TV Mall" has gathered 38 exhibitors with a total of 271 booths. A variety of themes are covered, including frequency platforms, TV shopping, home appliances, digital multi-media, audio/video publications, cartoons and digital content value-added applications. The "TV Market" will feature 93 exhibitors with a total of 268 booths.
■ Diplomacy
Officials invited
Representatives from several Latin American countries are expected to visit Taiwan next month, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Ho Ching-shan (侯清山), director-general of the ministry's Central and South American Affairs Department, said Taiwan has invited officials from El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Paraguay. Foreign dignitaries who have promised to visit include Salvadoran Econo-mics Minister Yolanda Mayora de Gavidia, Guatemalan Economics Minister Marcio Cuevas, Paraguayan Foreign Minister Marcial Bobadilla Guillen, and Dominican Presidential Office Secretary-General Danilo Medina Sanchez. Most of the scheduled visits are for the purpose of discussing economic affairs.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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