AVIATION
EVA in emergency landing
An EVA Airways passenger plane en route to Austria made an emergency landing in the Ukraine on Wednesday after a “pressure imbalance,” the carrier said yesterday. Flight 61 took off from Bangkok on Tuesday and landed safely at Simferopol Intentional Airport in the Ukraine two hours before its arrival time in Austria, the company said. The pilot deployed the cabin oxygen masks to help ease passengers’ discomfort caused by the drop in cabin pressure when the plane suddenly descended from 40,000 feet (12,192m) to 11,000 feet. All the passengers were transferred at Simferopol and proceeded to Austria, the company said. Osterreich, a Viennese newspaper, reported that the emergency landing was prompted by a loss of cabin pressure, but EVA officials denied this and ascribed the problem to “pressure imbalance” that was being investigated.
POLITICS
Councilor honored
The country’s longest--serving elected representative, Huang Kuo-tsung (黃國宗) — who will have been a Miaoli City councilor for 50 years by the time he finishes his term in December 2014 — was honored at a ceremony at the Ministry of the Interior yesterday for his dedication, having served on the council without interruption since 1964. Huang said he never set up a campaign headquarters. “I always had one slogan: ‘Serve the people,’” the 82-year-old councilor told the media after the ceremony. “Of course the job can be tiring at times, but I’m grateful of the chance to serve the people.” Huang said he would retire after finishing this term due to his advanced years, but rwould continue to serve the people if called upon.
POLITICS
A-bian office head resigns
Former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) office director Chen Sung-shan (陳淞山) announced his resignation yesterday, but said that he would continue to work for the former first couple behind the scenes. Chen Sung-shan, who took the post in June, was responsible for releasing statements from the former president as part of the former first family’s continuing legal proceedings. His departure is likely motivated by budget cutbacks at the office, after a new legislative amendment cut off all government subsidies to the former president, who is currently serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption. Separately, several of Chen Shui-bian’s supporters said they plan to hold a rally on the third of every month, starting next month, outside Taipei Prison to keep his spirits up.
AVIATION
CAL unveils parade float
China Airlines (CAL) on Wednesday unveiled its float for the Rose Parade, scheduled for tomorrow in Pasadena, California. The float, which features the Chinese tradition of dragon boat racing, will mark the air carrier’s 25th appearance in the annual parade. According to Chang Feng-ping (張鳳炳), director of CAL’s North America division, dragon boat racing was chosen as the theme this year because CAL wants to introduce the festival to the rest of the world and attract more visitors to Taiwan. Two dragon boats will be displayed on the float, with rowers and drummers from Los Angeles. The performers will wear scarves designed to mark the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China. Drummer Chou Wan-yu (周婉瑜), who will be the only woman on the float, said she was extremely excited to have the chance to wear one of the special scarves.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai