■ TRANSPORTATION
TV coverage canned
The government will axe a public exhibition of military might from annual training exercises next month to further ease tensions with China, a defense official said yesterday. Under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who took office in May on pledges to make peace with China, the Sept. 22 to Sept. 26 Han Kuang series of exercises will leave out the televised live-fire displays that Ma’s predecessors would use to flex muscle before Beijing. “No show this year,” a military official said, adding that public displays of military exercises have political implications. “Political intrigue and military preparedness do not gel together well,” said Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief for Defense News. “Ma has stated repeatedly [that] his administration will seek a peace accord with China.”
■ TRANSPORTATION
MRT lines delayed
The Council for Economic Planning and Development said on Monday it would push back by one year the scheduled completion of five mass rapid transit (MRT) lines in Taipei’s second-stage MRT plan. The 11 members of the council approved a motion at a regular meeting to delay the completion of the Neihu, Xinyi, Xinzhuang, Luzhou Branch and Songshan lines by one year from the scheduled launch dates. The Nangang Line’s eastward extension, however, will become operational by the end of this year as scheduled, the council said. The Taipei MRT system currently has eight lines — Muzha, Danshui, Zhonghe, Xindian, Banqiao, Nangang, Tucheng and the Xiaonanmen— totaling 76.6km. Construction on six additional lines — initially scheduled to open between next year and 2013 — began five years ago, but a number of factors have caused various delays in the projects, the council said.
■ CRIME
Unarmed man robs bank
A man with a motorcycle helmet broke into Chinfon Bank’s Da-an branch in Taipei City yesterday and robbed it of NT$610,000 without using any weapons. The robbery took place at 11:30am. Police said the robbery was captured on closed-circuit surveillance video. The man wore a blue shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. Witnesses told police that as some of the bank clerks were on their lunch break, there were only two female clerks behind the counter, while security officers were not inside the bank. Witnesses said the man, without saying anything or flashing any weapons, jumped over the counter and began loading cash from one of the drawers. It took him just 47 seconds to take the money and take off on a scooter.
■ ECONOMY
Milk prices to stabilize
The price of milk powder, which has constantly gone up since last year, is not expected to rise again in the coming months, as production prices have dropped from their peak in February, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a report yesterday. Government Information Office Deputy Minister Albert Lin (林清修) told reporters that New Zealand has been Taiwan’s main source of milk powder, followed by China and the Netherlands. The price of both wholesale milk powder imported from New Zealand and international fresh milk had dropped in the past two months, he said. Lin said the price of milk powder imported from New Zealand was now back to the same level as in February last year and that between Aug. 1 and last Wednesday, the price of domestic fresh milk had dropped 1.2 percent from last month. The price of milk powder, however, was up 0.5 percent.
■ SOCIETY
Beef noodle votes welcome
The 2008 Taipei Beef Noodle Festival was announced yesterday, with 60 selected shops offering 10 percent discounts every Thursday from Sept. 4 to Nov. 13. The Taipei City Government invited the public to join an online voting activity to select the best noodle shops in Taipei City by visiting the event’s official Web site at www.2008tbnf.com.tw to cast votes between Sept. 17 and Oct. 31. A beef noodle carnival will be held from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16 with creative beef noodle cooking contests and various activities to promote the local dish, said Liu Chia-chun (劉家均), director of Taipei City’s Office of Commerce. The festival, which enters its fourth year, was first held in 2005 to revive the popularity of beef noodles.
■ EDUCATION
Kinmen readies for Russian
The National Kinmen Institute of Technology is to forge sisterhood ties with the Far Eastern State Technical University located in Vladivostok, Russia, the president of the Kinmen school said yesterday. Lee Chin-chen (李金振) said that as Kinmen had been on the frontline in the battle against communist regimes, including the Soviet Union, for over 60 years, the island had no contact with the Russian language. However, under the current situation, with Kinmen’s warming ties with China and the establishment of the “small three links,” the island has been working to increase its ties with Russia, which shares a 4,000km border with China, he said. He added that he would travel to the Far Eastern State Technical University on Sept. 23. Lee said that the exchanges with the Vladivostok-based school under the sisterhood agreement would mean that the Kinmen technical institute’s practical foreign language curriculum would not be restricted to English.
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
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
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