DIPLOMACY
Yoshiro Mori visits Taiwan
Former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day private visit, the third former Japanese prime minister to visit the country this year, following Taro Aso and Shinzo Abe, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. During his stay, Mori will attend the 13th Asian Japanese Rugby Cup to be held in Taipei today and visit the Baojue Buddhist Temple (寶覺禪寺), a shrine dedicated to some Japanese World War II soldiers who fought overseas located in Taichung. Mori, known as his pro-Taiwan position, last visited the country in November 2006, when he was received by then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who conferred upon him the Special Grand Cordon of the Order of the Brilliant Star, incurring the anger of Beijing.
POLITICS
Lee Huan dies at 95
Former premier Lee Huan (李煥) died of cardiopulmonary failure at Taipei Veterans General Hospital late on Thursday at the age of 95. Lee is survived by four children. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華), the second child of the late politician, made the announcement of his father’s passing and said the family would hold a simple funeral without a public memorial ceremony, according to his father’s wishes. Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) immediately extended his condolences to Lee’s family upon being informed of the death. Lee was born in China’s Hubei Province in 1917 and served as premier from 1989 to 1990. He also served as minister of education from 1984 to 1987.
CHINA
Chinese visa wait shortened
Taiwan’s representative office in Los Angeles has shortened the visa processing time for overseas Chinese nationals intending to visit Taiwan, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Los Angeles said on Thursday. The new service — currently being provided on a trial basis before it is expanded to other US cities — allows eligible applicants to obtain entry permits to Taiwan within 10 days of application, compared with the usual three to four weeks. The program is aimed at holders of People’s Republic of China passports who have lived overseas for a year or who hold permanent resident status or student visas in a foreign country. According to a TECO immigration clerk, the service has received a warm reception since it was launched on Nov. 8.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
RSS