■ POLITICS
Chen Chu may visit China
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) is likely to visit Beijing and Shanghai later this month, which would make her the highest incumbent official from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ever to visit China. Chen said at a meeting of the city government yesterday that she would consider visiting Beijing from Wednesday through Friday to attend the Paris-based International Real Estate Federation’s 60th World Congress. Two public works projects that have been completed in Kaohsiung — the Heart of Love River bridge system and the Kaohsiung Central Park MRT Station — have been nominated by the federation for the prestigious Prix d’Excellence awards to be presented during the congress next week. “If I go, I will inform the DPP Central Standing Committee about the trip and file an application for the visit with the Mainland Affairs Council for approval,” Chen said. Meanwhile, DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that Chen’s visit had nothing to do with cross-strait politics and that it was not politically motivated.
■ TELECOMS
More teens have handsets
Taiwanese teenagers have become increasingly dependent on mobile phones, which have become a must-have item among youngsters, a survey released by the King Car Education Foundation yesterday showed. The survey found that 65.2 percent of respondents owned mobile phones, up 8 percent from a similar survey carried out in 2006. While only one-third of respondents in senior years of elementary school had mobile phones, the ratio increased to 50 percent among junior high school students and 90 percent among first-year senior high school students. Between 43.3 percent and 48.69 percent of the respondents said they would feel lonely and uneasy if they forgot to carry their mobile phones, their phone ran out of batteries or they failed to reach people they are trying to contact. Others said they felt unhappy if nobody called them or if their phone use was limited. Only 12.3 percent of respondents said they would not be disturbed by any of these situations. The survey, which was conducted last month, interviewed 2,358 students ranging from fifth to 10th grades in 18 schools nationwide.
■ CROSS-STRAIT
Legislature to review pacts
The legislature yesterday approved a motion proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to refer the three agreements signed in the third round of cross-strait talks to the legislative committees for review. The latest round of talks between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait were held on April 26 in Nanjing. The two sides signed three agreements covering the launch of regular cross-strait passenger flights, mutual juridical assistance and joint crime-fighting measures, as well as financial cooperation. A joint statement on a proposal to open Taiwan to Chinese investment was also released on the occasion. Initially the government sent the three agreements to the legislature for reference only, meaning lawmakers had no right to review their content. DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) said his caucus proposed the motion to highlight the irrationality of the government’s intention to bypass the legislature to implement the agreements. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said the KMT caucus was confident that the agreements would clear the legislature.
■ SOCIETY
Panda phone-link launched
Taipei Zoo launched a “Ring-a-Panda” service on Thursday, enabling subscribers to watch the zoo’s two pandas live via videophone. Panda-loving 3G phone users can dial a number and then view either two hours of live broadcasts from the Panda House, or hours of prerecorded footage of Tuan Tuan (團團) and Yuan Yuan (圓圓). An average of 12,500 people have visited the Panda House every day since the pair went on display, making them the zoo’s star attraction.
■ SOCIETY
Clown fish aquarium opens
The world’s first clown fish aquarium opened yesterday, featuring 18 species and nearly 1,500 clown fish. The Aquarium of Anemonefish is located in the Aquatic Ecosystem Exhibition Museum in Chengkung Township (成?Taitung County. The public can see many rare species of clown fish and learn more about the progress in local artificial fish-breeding techniques, aquarium planner Ho Yuan-hsing (何源興) said. The 18 species on exhibit consist of five native to Taiwan and 13 developed by scientists — five in Taiwan’s research center and eight from abroad, Ho said. One of the many special and rare types of clown fish on display is the skunk clown fish, which has a long, straight white line on its back and comes from East Africa, Ho said. Some other rare species are black in color, he said.
■ TOURISM
Hualien awaits lucky visitor
The tourist service center at Hualien train station is looking to welcome its 500,000th visitor sometime next week. Hualien County Tourism Bureau Chief Lin Pao-shu (林寶樹) said the county was planning an activity to award a prize to the lucky 500,000th visitor to the tourist service center since it was established in 2004. The center recorded its 300,000th visitor on Sept. 29, 2007, he said. Tourist arrivals in Hualien, one of the more popular tourist destinations in the country, have topped 500,000 since the beginning of this year, Lin said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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