■ MOVIES
President backs 'Monga'
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged people who have watched pirated copies of the nation's latest box-office hit Monga (艋舺) to watch the film again in movie theaters as a way of supporting locally produced movies. Ma made the call in his latest weekly online journal. “Rejecting piracy is supporting locally produced films, “ he said. Pirated copies of Cape No. 7 (海角七號) — one of the nation’s best-selling films — hit the market three months after its release in June 2008, and the same problem has beset Monga less than four weeks after its release, Ma wrote. This rampant copyright infringement has not only dealt a blow to the creativity and confidence of local filmmakers, but also hindered the Taiwanese film industry from making progress, he said. Innovation is the way for Taiwan to grow stronger and what it fears the most is intellectual property theft, he said, adding that he had instructed the Cabinet to reinforce measures to crack down on piracy.
■ TRAVEL
Passport rush hits 28,000
The Bureau of Consular Affairs received more than 28,000 applications for new passports on Friday, the last day before charges for a new passport were raised by NT$400 to NT$1,600, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said yesterday. Bureau Director-General Lo Yu-chung (羅由中) said it was the highest figure ever in terms of new passport applications. The adjusted charge for a regular e-passport with a 10-year period of validity will take effect tomorrow. The government began to issue e-passports on Dec. 29, 2008, becoming the 60th country to issue this type of passport, which boasts increased anti-fraud and security features. As of Dec. 31, about 1 million e-passports had been issued, with another 250,000 issued so far this year, Lo said. The e-passport, also called a chip passport, has a small contactless integrated circuit embedded in the back cover.
■ TRANSPORT
Airport expansion delayed
The expansion of Taipei Songshan Airport to accommodate more international flights may not be ready by October, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said on Friday. Mao said Songshan Airport had operated as a domestic airport for decades and needed to be expanded to accommodate international passengers. The airport’s management had concluded agreements to open international routes that will connect the city airport to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport and Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport, he said. Although Songshan Airport has limited capacity, it can become a “small but efficient” airport after the expansion of Terminal One for international flights is completed, he said.
■ HISTORY
Online database launched
The Academia Historica’s Taiwan Historica and National Chengchi University recently launched an online database digitalizing gazettes issued by the Taiwan governor-general’s office during the Japanese colonial era. Taiwan Historica director Lin Chin-tien (林金田) said the database would provide a wealth of resources for studies on Taiwan’s administrative, judicial and military systems during that era as the databank includes more than 60,000 scanned images of the gazettes and more than 50,000 entries related to the historical documents. The database is expected to collect about 65,000 images and 150,000 data entries by next year, Lin said. Users of the databank can browse the data by year or search for information by date or keywords, he said. The database is available at: http://db2.lib.nccu.edu.tw/view.
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