TOURISM
Medical visa considered
Chinese nationals may soon be allowed to visit the country exclusively for medical services rather than under a tourist itinerary, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday. Under the new regulation, Chinese nationals would be able to cite health checkups and medical cosmetology services as the purpose of travel when applying for an entry permit for Taiwan. Existing regulations only allow Chinese visitors to receive such services after they enter the country, either with tour groups or under the free independent traveler program, according to the agency. NIA -Director-General Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) said the new policy would bring more people to Taiwan for medical services — which he called part of Taiwan’s soft power — and would boost the business of the local medical sector.
SPORT
Taekwondo star not acting
Taekwondo star Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) will not try her hand at acting in South Korea because she is training hard for next year’s Olympic Games in London, the athlete’s manager, Yang Shu-chuan (楊淑娟), said yesterday. The manager was responding to a report in the Chinese-language China Times yesterday that said the athlete had been approached by a South Korean producer and asked to appear in a soap opera with members of South Korean boy band Dong Bang Shin Ki. The report said the athlete’s good looks had been noticed in South Korea after she was disqualified in a controversial ruling in the taekwondo competition at last year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. According to Yang Shu-chuan, the taekwondo star had been approached by a South Korean agency to appear in a production, but the offer was rejected because she currently had no intention or time to star in any films.
TRAVEL
Bangkok advisory still red
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said the travel warning for flood-stricken Bangkok and 28 surrounding regions remained red because of the ongoing flood crisis. A red travel warning is the highest in the ministry’s four-color travel advisory system. Concerned about outbreaks of disease, polluted water supplies and the possible breakdown of barriers protecting Bangkok, the ministry advised Taiwanese not to travel to the city or surrounding areas. According to the ministry, downtown Bangkok escaped serious damage when the flood peaked on Oct. 29 and during a spring high tide on Monday. However, seven districts in northern and western Bangkok suffered from serious flooding, the ministry said. In addition, water supplies polluted by floodwater are threatening the public’s health and water rationing has been implemented in several provinces, the ministry added.
TOURISM
Tourism sector recovering
About 460,000 foreign tourists visited Taiwan in September, setting a record high for that month, the Tourism Bureau said. The figure, which was up 9.9 percent from a year earlier, is a sign that the local tourism sector is recovering after a series of incidents earlier this year led to unfavorable market conditions, the bureau said. The incidents included a train derailment on the -Alishan forest railway in April that killed six Chinese tourists and a food scare after plasticizers were detected in some consumables in May. The bureau said Japanese visitors topped the visitor list with 122,908 tourists, a 33.9 percent increase over the same period last year and a single-month all-time high.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all