■ DIPLOMACY
Su to attend ally's funeral
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has appointed former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to serve as special envoy at the funeral of John Compton, the late prime minister of Saint Lucia. According to a statement by the Presidential Office, Su, who is the Democratic Progressive Party's vice presidential candidate for next year's election, will also visit the country's two other Caribbean allies -- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Compton died earlier this month at the age of 82 after regaining power last December. Saint Lucia resumed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in May while Su was premier. In June, Su attended the Malawian first lady's funeral on behalf of Chen. Su is scheduled to depart for the Caribbean today.
■ JUSTICE
Wine counterfeiter caught
Public prosecutors in Tainan took a third member of a counterfeit liquor ring into custody late on Friday after seizing more than 100,000 bottles of fake French red wine and counterfeit foreign brand-name liquors. Earlier in the week, the prosecutors detained Wang Kun-chuan (王崑泉) and his brother Wang Min-tsung (王明宗) after seizing bottles of fake liquor from warehouses in Tainan County and Taichung County. The fake liquor included whisky carrying counterfeit labels such as Famous Grouse, Macallan and Johnnie Walker. Other seized products included fake French red wine and distilled spirits affixed with counterfeit labels of well-known Chinese brand names. Prosecutors said they suspect the fake products may have already made their way onto the market and they are trying to trace the potentially harmful products.
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