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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ TOURISM

Two millionth tourist arrives

The nation has welcomed the arrival of the 2 millionth overseas tourist this year, the Tourism Bureau announced yesterday. Malaysian tourist Huang Ai-ling (黃愛玲), 31, arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon with 10 other family members for a five-day vacation. A flight attendant for Singapore Airlines, Huang was awarded a credit of NT$200,000 on her credit card and some other gifts. The bureau said it originally estimated the 2 millionth tourist would arrive on the 20th of this month. The bureau said that the 3 millionth overseas tourist was expected to arrive in October. The 1 millionth overseas tourist arrived in April.



■ TRANSPORTATION

Motorcyclists stage rally

More than 1,000 riders of motorcycles smaller than 550cc are scheduled to stage a demonstration in Taipei today to fight for the right to use fast lanes and expressways. Chen Feng-yun (陳豐運), leader of a private group of motorcycle riders, said yesterday that although the government lifted the ban last year on motorcycles with 550cc engines and higher on expressways, nearly 6,000 250cc to 549cc motorcycles are still denied access to expressways. Chen said that there were no clear guidelines on what lanes riders of smaller motorcycles should use, adding that they would be violating traffic rules if they traveled in fast lanes and often get a ticket if they use slow lanes. The protest today will start from Taipei City Hall, with the participants riding their motorcycles along Renai Road, Fuxing S Road, Zhongxiao E Road and Jianguo S Road to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Chen said.



■ RIME

Retired engineer detained

The Special Investigation Section (SIS) of the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors’ Office yesterday detained engineer Hung Sung-mao (洪松茂) for his alleged involvement in the Taoyuan Airport Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project corruption case. Hung recently retired from the Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau (TANEEB) at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said the investigation concerned Taipei’s MRT Construction Bureau, Da Cin Construction Co and Fubon Insurance Co, with NT$13 million (US$427,700) in bribes allegedly changing hands. The SIS, working with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, raided 17 locations in Taipei City and Taipei County and interrogated 13 people on Wednesday, including officials and employees from TANEEB, Taipei’s MRT Construction Bureau, Da Cin Construction Co and Fubon Insurance Co.



■ CRIME

Drug smugglers arrested

Three Taiwanese men have been arrested for allegedly smuggling illicit drugs from Seoul into Taiwan during a cross-border drug ring operation, police authorities said on Wednesday. Police officers from the Criminal Investigation Bureau and Nantou County detained a drug trafficker surnamed Liu who arrived from Seoul late on Tuesday at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Officers found that Liu had concealed 0.379kg of pure heroin in his rectum. Liu confessed to having been paid NT$100,000 (US$3,000) to bring the drug from Seoul, where it had been given to him by an accomplice from Cambodia earlier on Tuesday. Acting on a tip, police officers and prosecutors tracked down two other suspects on Wednesday in Taichung County. The suspects, identified as Chan and Lee, are alleged to have paid Liu.

■ ENERGY

Tainan targets temples

The Tainan County Government said it would target 1,300 temples in its latest bid to conserve energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Lin Cheng-lu (林振祿), a county official in charge of civil affairs, said yesterday his county had the nation’s largest number of temples. The county government would soon send officials to large temples to promote the energy campaign. The county hopes to persuade the temples to change all blessing lights — which are offered to worshipers at a price — to LED bulbs that are more energy efficient, Lin said. When the county renovates the temples, it will install solar panels to further save energy, he said. As most temples have installed a large number of incense urns, pilgrims often pray with large sticks of incense. The city government is planning to promote the concept of “one incense stick per person.”



■ TRANSPORTATION

KRTC to add new MRT stop

The Kaohsiung City Government will begin negotiations with the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) next month over the budget for the construction of Gangshan Station in Kaohsiung County — a project added to the recently completed Red Line, the city government’s Mass Rapid Transit Bureau said yesterday. Bureau officials said the construction project was scheduled to begin by the end of this year and be completed in 2012. The 28.3km Red Line, with 23 stations from Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) to Chiaotou (橋頭) in Kaohsiung County, was inaugurated on March 9. Although the line has been extended to Gangshan Township, no station has been built, and the KRTC has refused to improvise in Gangshan with a makeshift structure.
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