MUSIC
Kylie Minogue wows fans
Pop diva Kylie Minogue dazzled fans last night in Taipei, performing in Taiwan for the second time after her first visit in 2008. The concert, held at the Nangang Exhibition Hall, was part of her six-month “Aphrodite” world tour, which began in February. Upon her arrival on Saturday for a three-day visit, she was welcomed at the airport by a crowd of screaming fans, with some singing Minogue’s hit songs to attract her attention, as the Australian singer-songwriter walked out of the airport’s arrival lobby. She greeted fans and signed autographs, saying she was very happy to be in Taiwan. The singer will leave today to travel to Manila for another show.
SOCIETY
More women walk
Walking is the primary means of non-motorized transportation for women in Taiwan, while men more often ride bicycles, a survey released yesterday by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications shows. The ministry said the gender factor was a key issue in the use of public transport and that the survey could be a useful reference in transportation policy planning. The survey showed that 13.9 percent of women used non-motorized forms of transportation, about 2.1 percent more than men. Non-motorized transportation is defined as active transportation and human-powered transportation that provides both recreation and transportation. In the poll, walking and cycling were included in the category of eco-friendly public transportation. The survey showed that 17.14 percent of women take public transportation, such as city buses and the MRT, while only 10.3 percent of men do so, as they prefer to drive cars. Almost 78 percent of men take private motorized transportation, about 9 percent higher than women, the survey found.
POPULATION
Birthrate rises in first half
The number of babies born in the country in the first five months of this year increased 8.3 percent compared with the same period last year, according to recent government figures. During the January-May period, 75,792 babies were born in Taiwan, statistics from the Ministry of the Interior showed. Last year, 166,886 babies were born in Taiwan, a 12.8 percent decrease from the previous year. Fifty-three percent of the babies were firstborns and 36 percent were second births. Meanwhile, the number of mothers in the 20 to 24 age group dropped 12.1 percentage points from 10 years ago, while those in the 25 to 29 age group fell 6.5 percentage points. Taiwan has one of the lowest birthrates in the world.
SOCIETY
Balloons fly over Taitung
Twenty hot air balloons crossed Taitung over the weekend, creating a kaleidoscope of color. Most of the balloons, tethered together, floated over the Luye Rift Valley on Friday, while some were released on Saturday and yesterday. Fourteen of the balloons were from the US, Canada, Switzerland, Dubai, Thailand, India and New Zealand. Hot air balloons are classified as aircraft, which means they are not officially permitted to fly over Taiwan for reasons of aviation safety, according to Rosa Huang, a lecturer at the University of Kang Ning, which co-sponsored the event. The 20 balloons were launched for teaching purposes only, Huang said.
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
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
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard