TRAVEL
Warning issued for Trinidad
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a warning yesterday advising people to avoid traveling to Trinidad and Tobago, where tensions were rising after the government of the Caribbean nation declared a curfew in the wake of a surge in violent crime. A 15-day period of emergency rule was imposed on Aug. 21 in a bid to halt the surge in violent crime linked to the drug trade, the ministry said, adding the emergency rule was mainly to allow authorities to conduct search and seizure operations and make arrests. The ministry issued an “orange” warning, which is the second-highest on its four-color tourism advisory system. Orange means to avoid going to the destination and to be on high alert if there.
DIPLOMACY
Documentaries posted
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York has launched a Web site that provides 22 documentaries about Taiwan to help people better understand the country. The Web site, created by the office in cooperation with video Web site DramaFever, features documentaries on topics ranging from Taiwanese delicacies, culture, music, customs and festivals to the business scene, healthcare and learning Chinese. The documentaries, produced by the Government Information Office, aim to provide in-depth knowledge of Taiwan through the Internet and draw more visitors to the country for pleasure, business or to study. Each documentary is about 30 minutes long and can be viewed on DramaFever’s Web site at www.dramafever.com/taiwan. They include: Food from the Heavens — Taiwan’s Rice Culture, The Green Green Grass — the Story of Taiwan’s Fight Against SARS; Visions of Taiwan’s Mountains; Embrace Life — the Story of Taiwan Medicine and Tradition Meets Modernity — Energy for Taiwan Music.
CULTURE
‘Crosstalk’ icon honored
Renowned actor Wu Jau--nan (吳兆南) cried on Tuesday upon hearing that he was selected as one of the nation’s “Significant Traditional Arts Preservers” by the Council of Cultural Affairs. The honor is presented to those considered “human national treasures” for their dedication to the preservation of traditional arts. Wu was honored for his contributions and devotion to “crosstalk” (相聲) for 60 years. Crosstalk is a traditional Chinese comedic performance that usually takes the form of a dialogue between performers. Wu was overjoyed after hearing that he received the honor but also saddened to tears that his wife, who died two years ago, could not share his happiness. He said he would try to stay healthy and take every opportunity to be “used” to promote the art form.
CRIME
Customs brokers questioned
Prosecutors yesterday questioned five customs brokers who are suspected of bribing officials to help importers smuggle goods, after raids on their offices and homes. The Taipei District Public Prosecutors’ Office began its probe into the case last year after receiving tip-offs that customs officials were taking bribes from brokers to cover up the smuggling of banned goods, or to allow importers to pay lower tariffs by undervaluing their imports. Investigators have detained 10 officials from the Directorate General of Customs and the Keelung Customs Office they believe were involved in the scandal. The prosecutors launched the first round of raids and questioning in July, and detained several importers and customs officials, including Deputy Director-General of Customs Lu Tsai-yih (呂財益).
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
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