■POLITICS
KMT nominates candidate
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday nominated Chang Geng-hui (張艮輝) to run in the Yunlin County legislative by-election. The nomination must be approved by the party’s Central Nomination Review Committee and Central Standing Committee. Chang, 48, is an associate professor at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology. Yunlin Irrigation Association director Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元) has announced he will run in the by-election as an independent. Chang’s son, former KMT legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), won a legislative election in Yunlin County in January last year but lost his seat last month after the High Court found him guilty of participating in a vote-buying scheme organized by his father. Chang Hui-yuan, who was found guilty of vote buying in the first trial, had registered with the KMT to run in the by-election on behalf of his son. The KMT later rejected his registration based on the revised version of its “black-gold exclusion clause,” which states that members who are found guilty of corruption at a first trial may not to be nominated for any election. The by-election will be held on Sept. 26.
■SPORTS
Drivers study sign language
More than 800 bus drivers employed by the Capital Bus Company are studying sign language to offer better service to athletes competing in the 21st Summer Deaflympics to be held from Sept. 5 to Sept. 15, a spokesman for the private company said yesterday. General Manager Lee Chien-wen (李建文) said the company broadcasts a film at every bus depot on the hour every day to give drivers a chance to learn some of the language. The company has also hired several dactylology teachers from the city’s Department of Labor to give drivers training in the use of simple hand signals.
■TOURISM
Foreign visitors surge
The number of foreign visitors rose 10.4 percent to 2.1 million in the first half of the year, spurred by an influx of Chinese tourists, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday. About half of the total were tourists, up 28.1 percent, while 381,000 were business visitors, down 18.6 percent. The rest were foreigners in other categories, such as foreign workers, the Tourism Bureau said in its monthly bulletin. Although the number of tourists from most countries fell, including a 53 percent drop in South Korean tourists, the number of Chinese tourists grew. In the period from January to June, Taiwan received 251,273 Chinese tourists, up 711 percent from the same period last year.
■EXCHANGES
Delegation readies for Israel
A youth delegation will leave for Israel soon to attend an international ecology and summer leadership program, the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei (ISECO) said yesterday. At the invitation of the Taipei-based Israeli office, five young people with volunteering background in animal or environmental protection will participate in the program, which is being organized by Israel’s National Council for Youth Exchange. The ISECO said the program would focus on themes of ecology and youth leadership, and would feature workshops, ecological and cultural activities and trips to Israel’s museums and popular tourist attractions. The program is scheduled to be held between Sunday and Aug. 16 in Hakefar-Hayarok and will serve as a platform for cultural exchanges among the participants. All accommodation costs will be covered by the Israeli Youth Council, the ISECO said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard