■ DIPLOMACY
AIT chief arriving in August
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) would assume his post late next month, but the exact date would be announced by Washington. Harry Tseng (曾厚仁), director-general of the ministry's Department of North American Affairs, said that before the new US envoy, William Stanton, heads to Taiwan, he would meet local correspondents and media today in Washington. Stanton is expected to give a short on-the-record talk and then answer questions off the record, Tseng said. Tseng also reiterated Taiwan's support for Stanton's appointment. “The foreign ministry welcomes the designation of Stanton, who is very familiar with Asian affairs and is closely following current developments across the Taiwan Strait. We believe that he is the right person for the post,” Tseng said.
■ FESTIVALS
Canada holding Taiwan fest
The 20th annual Taiwan Fest in Canada will start on Aug. 25 in Toronto and on Aug. 27 in Vancouver. Called the “New Journey,” the festival will feature different aspects of Taiwanese arts and cultures, ranging from fashion to music, movies, cuisines and the performing arts. Several popular Taiwanese indie bands will play at the two events and participants will also be treated to an exhibition of the latest Taiwanese fashion. A film festival will showcase many recent Taiwanese features, including Cape No. 7 and Blue Brave. For more information, visit www.taiwanfest.ca.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Whale-watching tours drop
The number of whale and dolphin watchers in Hualien is estimated to drop by between 20 percent and 30 percent compared with last year because of the economic downturn, industry workers said. Groups of visitors used to flock to Hualien in summer for cetacean-watching tours, except in bad weather conditions such as typhoons, a worker in the whale-watching business said. But while the number of visitors increased year-on-year early this month, it did not rise after the middle of this month — which is traditionally the peak season. Workers in the industry are worried that the decline could persist for the rest of the year, saying the economic slump seems to have dissuaded people from visiting. A worker said that the number of whales and dolphins observed this year had also dropped, attributing the decline to an effect of damage to the ecosystem.
■ CRIME
Murder probe concludes
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office yesterday concluded its investigation into the 1981 death in Taipei of US-based Taiwanese academic Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) believed to be a political murder during the White Terror era, but did not name suspects. Chen's battered body was discovered on July 2, 1981, on the campus of National Taiwan University one day after he was taken away by Taiwan Garrison Command. The office said prosecutors did not have solid evidence to indict Wang Ching-hsu (汪敬煦), the head of the garrison command, Kuo Hsueh-chou (郭學周), its division director, Tsuo Hsiao-han (鄒小韓), and its cadres Wang Wen-bin (王文繽) and Wang Yi-hua (王憶華). Chen, then an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, had returned to Taiwan to visit his family. He was taken from his house by three Garrison Command officers for questioning over his support for the anti-government Formosa Magazine. He was 31.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
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