The Tourism Bureau yesterday said it had sent its regards to a Taiwanese tour guide who was slapped by Chinese tourists after their flight was canceled.
Flights between Kinmen and Taiwan were unable to cope with the number of tourists flying to Taiwanese mainland after heavy fog earlier this week caused airlines to divert and cancel most flights.
Tempers flared among some Chinese tourists after they were informed that they would not be able to catch a flight or book a hotel for days, forcing them to sleep under military blankets in the airport.
A group of Chinese tourists were caught on television slapping a female Taiwanese tour guide on Thursday after she informed the tourists that their flight had been canceled.
Bureau officials said they had sent their regards to the tour guide, adding that it had also reported the names of the Chinese tourists involved in the incident to China’s Cross-Strait Tourism Association and asked the association to demand that the tourists not slap people again.
In related news, three military cargo planes that were mobilized to fly hundreds of stranded Taiwanese vacationers from Kinmen County have arrived back on the Taiwanese mainland.
The Ministry of Defense-operated C-130s returned after picking up more than 400 tourists, although news reports yesterday said hundreds of vacationers were still unable to catch a flight out.
Kinmen airport officials said that each of the three C-130s made two round trips taking an average of 70 passengers on each flight from Kinmen to Taiwan. Four of the flights were made to Taipei and a further two to Taichung.
According to information from Kinmen’s airport, flights have been operating normally since yesterday morning after parts of the heavy fog lifted. Airlines have also promised extra flights during the next few days to ensure that the last of the stranded passengers makes it home safely.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
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