■ AVIATION
Bomb scare diverts plane
A Taiwan-based China Airlines (CAL) passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Hangzhou, in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province yesterday after a passenger claimed to have a bomb on board, Taiwan’s Aviation Police Office said late yesterday evening. The 58-year-old passenger reportedly told cabin crew he had explosives in his luggage, the office said. The plane, which was on its way to Shanghai from Taipei, was diverted to Hangzhou. A preliminary investigation by local police found no explosives in Lin’s luggage. He claimed to have made the comment as a joke, the office said. The plane eventually took off again for Shanghai — minus Lin, who was detained in Hangzhou, according to the office.
■ FOOD
Farmers make halal bid
The farmers’ association in Taichung County’s Shihkang (石岡) said it was applying for Halal certification of its new ponkan mandarin orange cake to tap into Muslim markets abroad. Halal certification is recognition that products are permissible under Islamic law and are thus edible, drinkable or usable by Muslims. The Shihkang farmers’ association has been forced to add value to its ponkan mandarin oranges, which is a major crop in that area, following poor sales last year. After much trial and error, it came up with the orange cake, which is expected to hit the market this month. The association plans to export it to Southeast Asian countries with large Muslim populations.
■ SEAFARING
Koxinga honored with ship
A replica of a 17th century Ming Dynasty ruler’s ship was launched yesterday at Anping Harbor in Tainan City and is expected to make a voyage to Japan next April, Tainan city government officials said yesterday. Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (�?]) said the ship, which was built to commemorate the Chinese general Koxinga, known in Mandarin Chinese as Cheng Chen-kung (鄭成�?would sail for the Japanese city of Hirado, where Koxinga was born in 1624. The officials said the ship, which is not self-powered and was towed into the harbor by a fishing boat, would have to undergo seven days of tests in the harbor before being fitted with navigation equipment and an engine. To reconstruct the ship, Tainan city officials traveled to Japan in 2008 to obtain a copy of a painting of the vessel from the Hirado City Government. Based on the 1706 painting, the 29.5m replica was completed in 18 months, with funding of NT$80 million (US$2.5 million) from the Council for Cultural Affairs.
■ NATURE
Coastal forests important
The country must put more effort into restoring coastal forests, which can provide protection against wind and tides, a Council of Agriculture official said. Chen Tsai-hui (陳財輝), an analyst at the council’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, said the coastal forests had declined substantially in recent years because of coastal industrial parks, fishing ports, and recreational and wind power facilities. The western coastline is suffering serious erosion, Chen said. The overuse of concrete armor units and bulwarks defeats the purpose of their construction, often resulting in encroachment at sea, he said. Land subsidence along the southwest coastline has also resulted in coastal forests being swamped, he said. To limit the damage from high tides and sandstorms, more forests should be planted along the nation’s 1,250km of coastline, Chen said.
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
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
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