The number of people who ride a bicycle on a regular basis is expected to increase to 700,000 this year amid a bicycle craze emphasizing health and energy conservation, a report released recently by the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said.
The number would mark a rise of 112 percent compared with 2006, when the number of cyclists totaled 330,000, the council said, referring to the results of market research conducted by Gallup Taiwan.
As shown in the results of various surveys released this year, many people have changed their commuting patterns to cope with higher fuel prices, with some beginning to ride a bicycle to and from work.
Government efforts to build a nationwide network of bicycle paths since 2002 have also helped promote cycling as a means of transportation and recreation, the council said.
Before that, most bicycle paths were built haphazardly by local governments, without systematic integration, it said.
By the end of last year, the government had completed the construction of 40 special bicycle paths and integrated bicycle paths in various areas around the country, spanning a total length of 1,180km, the council said.
As 80 percent of cyclists in Taiwan ride a bicycle for leisure, the government will pay attention to regional tourism resources and continue to work toward developing a national bicycle path network, the council said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching