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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ DIPLOMACY

`Firecracker' CD released

The Taipei City Government began handing out free "firecracker CDs" yesterday to prevent firecracker-related injuries during the Lunar New Year holiday. Residents can obtain a copy of the Environmental Friendly, Smokeless Firecracker CD -- with recordings of exploding firecrackers -- at Taipei City Government offices or by mail. The city has banned the use of firecrackers at all public locations within 50m of schools and those that create too much noise. The Lunar New Year holidays begin on Feb. 6.



■ DIPLOMACY

Visa-free visits extended

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that starting Friday, the government would grant 90-day visa-free privileges to Japanese tourists visiting Taiwan. Ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said Taiwan already grants 30-day visa-free privileges to Japanese tourists and said the extension would make it the longest granted to foreign visitors. Yeh said the ministry and other government agencies had begun planning reciprocal measures after Japan granted Taiwanese 90-day visa-free privileges in 2005. She said the new measure should help bilateral relations. The ministry said the number of visits between Taiwan and Japan totaled 2.5 million last year, with about 1.2 million Japanese visiting Taiwan.



■ DEFENSE

Taiping airstrip opened

The military has completed an airstrip on the disputed Spratly Islands, sources said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense has completed a 1,150m runway on Taiping and tested it, the sources said. The sources said the strip would be for military or civilian maritime rescue use. "It's for movement of vehicles, any kind of vehicles, civilian or military," a ministry spokesman said. The airstrip will supplement Coast Guard and Air Force stations on Taiping, the biggest in the Spratly chain at 489,500m2 and 1,000km south of Taiwan. The Spratlys are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Last year, Kaohsiung established a green turtle reserve on Taiping in a bid to stop hunting. All governments, except Brunei, that have made claims to the Spratlys have installed facilities there.



■ ARTS

Opera house on the way

Construction of the Taichung Metropolitan Opera House -- a building Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) has described as "a feat of engineering" -- began on Monday in downtown Taichung City. Addressing a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction, Hu said the simple ceremony represents the emergence of a new landmark in Taichung and a new page in the city's history. Hu said the opera house is an artistic work of innovation designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito, a realization of Taichung's vision of overall development and an architectural piece that has already become an eye-opener in international architectural circles. He added that when it is built, the opera house will be considered on a par with the Sydney Opera House, one of the architectural masterpieces of the southern hemisphere. The opera house will cost NT$3.5 billion (US$108.36 million) and will be built on a site measuring 57,685m2. It will seat 2,009 in the main auditorium, 800 in a "playhouse" and 200 in a "black box," according to Ito's design. The "black box," an experimental stage, will form an intimate environment suitable for small theater. The wide space around the theater will provide the theater with exceptional flexibility.
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