■TOURISM
Chinese set to top visits
Chinese look set to overtake Japanese as the largest group of foreign visitors to Taiwan this year. The Tourism Bureau set a target of 1.2 million visits from Chinese this year, higher than the target of 1.1 million for Japanese. Last year, Japanese remained the largest group, but their numbers fell 7.92 percent to 1,000,661. Figures for Japanese tourists specifically, however, were down just 1.76 percent. Chinese were the second largest group, with 972,123 arrivals, including 606,174 traveling as tourists. During the Lunar New Year holiday, more than 40,000 Chinese tourists were scheduled to visit Taiwan, the bureau said last week. The bureau is expecting a record number of foreign nationals to visit Taiwan, with a target of 4.8 million this year, up 9 percent from the 4.4 million last year.
■TRAVEL
Fee to rise on March 1
The fee for ePassport applications will be increased to NT$1,600 starting on March 1, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. It currently costs NT$1,200 to apply for an ePassport. The fee was scheduled to rise on Jan. 1 but because of a surge in applications at the end of last year, the legislature passed a resolution to delay the implementation until March 1. The passport, which contains a contactless chip and antenna embedded in its back cover with the bearer’s biographical data and facial image stored on the chip, was first issued on Dec. 29, 2008. Combined with a new rule requiring people to apply for passports in person, the new ePassports have deterred the use of forged passports and it is hoped they will help Taiwan’s efforts to gain visa-waiver status from the US and the EU.
■TRANSPORTATION
MRT to add extensions
The Taipei Metropolitan Rapid Transit system is expected to add two extensions to its network in the second half of this year, the Taipei City Government’s Department of Rapid Transit System said. One of the extensions will be to the Bannan Line, from Zhongxiao-Xinsheng Station in Taipei to Luzhou Township (蘆洲) in Taipei County. The extension will allow passengers to travel between Luzhou and Taipei Main Station in only 19 minutes, the department said. Passengers will also have the option of changing trains at Minchuan West Road Station to travel on the Tamsui Line, which will reduce passenger numbers at Taipei Main Station. The second extension will also be on the Bannan Line, from Nankang Station to Nankang Exhibition Hall Station, connecting with the Wenhu Line there.
■POLITICS
Lu fuels speculation
Speculation that former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), may run for office in Kaohsiung City was fueled on Saturday when former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said that the younger Chen had “strong political DNA.” Speaking to the Taiwanese American Chamber Of Commerce in Los Angeles, Lu said she was not surprised about the younger Chen’s possible intention to run as he grew up in a very political environment. She added the caveat that, “running and winning are two different things,” and that the election result would be settled by Kaohsiung voters. Speculation mounted last month after Chen Chih-chung reportedly said that, “joining the [political] race is also a form of service,” after visiting his father at the Taipei Detention Center. He has since denied expressing any intention to run for public office, saying the media misinterpreted his comments.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS