■ DIPLOMACY
Visa exemptions granted
Five more European countries have been exempted from visa requirements to promote trade and tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The countries are Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania and Estonia. Their citizens will be allowed to stay up to 30 days in Taiwan without applying for a visa, the ministry’s Bureau of Consular Affairs announced on its Web site. The visa-exemption measure became effective for Poland, Slovakia and Hungary on Oct. 1, for Lithuania last Saturday and will come into effect for visitors from Estonia on Monday. So far, Taiwan has extended visa exemptions to 36 countries in the hope that they reciprocate the arrangements for Taiwanese visiting their country. More than 50 countries have exempted Taiwan from visa requirements, allowing Taiwanese visitors to remain in the country from as little as seven days up to as much as 90 days.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Taiwan, China to host forum
Taiwan and China will co-host a forum on creating a paper-free trade environment next year in Taipei under the APEC framework, Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬) told a press conference yesterday. APEC has agreed to grant US$200,000 to support the event and Taiwan has been highly praised by many countries for efforts made to cut down on the use of paper, Huang said. Meanwhile, Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) and Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) briefed the Cabinet on their participation at the APEC ministerial meeting in Peru. They told the meeting that “the interaction between Taiwan and China under the APEC framework has been heading in a positive direction.”
■ HEALTH
Virus hits Taipei schools
Taipei City’s Education Department urged students and parents to remain cautious after classes in three elementary schools were shut for 10 days this week because of enterovirus infections. A total of 214 confirmed enterovirus cases have occurred in Taipei, chief secretary of the department Lin Shin-yao (林信耀) said. As the enterovirus infection cases were expected to increase during the fall and winter seasons, Lin said the department had already asked schools to step up disinfections. In addition to the disinfection of all classrooms in schools, Lin said the department would also join forces with the city’s health department to continue monitoring the situation in order to prevent any enterovirus epidemic from occurring.
■ AGRICULTURE
Promotional event opens
A promotional sales event for the nation’s top 100 agricultural and fishery products is taking place at the National Taiwan University Arena until Sunday, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday at the opening ceremony. The event is part of the “Made in Taiwan is Best” series of events, COA Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) said, adding that the products offered were selected from a list of more than 400 finalists and were of superior quality. Chen said the event would cater to small families and offer packages of an assortment of products, as well as wedding-related products targeting couples planning to get married. Consumers spending more than NT$1,000 were eligible to enter raffles to win prizes, such as vouchers for short breaks at hotels, Chen said.
■ CORRUPTION
Ex-prosecutor impeached
The Control Yuan yesterday impeached former Yunlin County prosecutor Hsu Wei-yu (徐維嶽) for taking advantage of his position to extort money in 2004. Hsu was given a life sentence by the Yunlin District Court in 2006, the most severe punishment meted out to a member of the judiciary for involvement in corruption. The Control Yuan’s statement said Huang brought false charges against Chen Chien-sung (陳劍松), alleging that a supporter, Chou Shih-lung (周世龍), bought votes for Chen in the 2004 legislative elections. Huang targeted Chen in a scheme to secure a reward for informants in vote-buying cases. Hsu had his brother’s girlfriend report fabricated information implicating Chen and Chou. Hsu then forced Chou to make a confession with threats, the statement said.
■ CRIME
Murderer granted parole
The Ministry of Justice yesterday granted parole to convicted murderer Hung Hsiao-hui (洪曉慧). Hung began her sentence on Jan. 14, 1999. She was a graduate student at National Tsing Hua University’s Radiation Organism Department when she murdered a classmate, Hsu Chia-chen (?u) in the lab on March 7, 1998, because Hsu was in love with Hung’s boyfriend, Tseng Huan-tai (曾煥泰). After killing Hsu, Hung poured the chemical aqua regia over her body. Hung dropped out of school after the murder.In addition to her prison sentence, Hung was ordered to pay NT$24.17 million (US$732,000) in compensation to Hsu’s parents. The ministry said Hung’s request was granted because she had completed two-thirds of her sentence of 16 years and three months. Furthermore, she has been cited nine times for excellent behavior in prison, the ministry said.
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