DIPLOMACY
New York official to visit
Taiwan-born New York City Comptroller John Liu is scheduled to visit Taiwan today and tomorrow. Liu, the Big Apple’s first comptroller of Asian descent, is seeking the US Democratic Party’s nomination to run for New York City mayor next year. He will travel to Taiwan after visiting South Korea. His itinerary includes visits to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and meetings with Taiwanese experts and business executives. Liu will also deliver a speech on New York City’s economic and financial situation at the Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance, a think tank and education institution.
AVIATION
Airport worker finds bullets
A worker at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport who was remodeling a section of the ceiling discovered several live bullets when they fell from the roof space, aviation police said. The worker was renovating the ceiling of Terminal 1 on Aug. 21 when he dislodged the nine bullets, the police said. The 7.62mm rounds were covered in dust and the worker did not recognize them as ammunition until several days later when he was cleaning up. He immediately reported his discovery to police. The bullets were sent to the Ministry of National Defense, where they were identified as having been made in Thailand by the Royal Thai Armed Forces. Police are still investigating how the bullets got there.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
New dictionary published
A dictionary featuring the differences between the Mandarin Chinese spoken in Taiwan and that in China was published in China yesterday as part of a joint effort to promote Chinese-language reference materials. The dictionary, which includes common Mandarin Chinese words and phrases used in Taiwan and China, is part of a cross-strait cooperation project aimed at enhancing cultural exchanges by compiling and publishing Chinese-language reference books and setting up a database for the languages used on both sides of the Strait. The 1,800-page dictionary, which contains 5,700 words and more than 27,000 phrases, took 200 Taiwanese and Chinese academics more than 15 months to compile, according to the the dictionary’s Chinese publisher, the China Lexicographical Society. Both sides will continue compiling words and phrases, and will add more vocabulary for daily life situations in the next edition, Taiwan’s National Cultural Association secretary-general Yang Tu (楊渡) said.
SOCIETY
Residency rules to be eased
National Immigration Agency Director-General Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) said the agency is preparing a draft amendment for legislative review that proposes annulling regulations stipulating that foreign residents must live in the country for at least 183 days per year to keep residency. The draft amendment will also allow foreign residents to keep their permanent residency even if they live outside Taiwan for a long period of time, Hsieh said in a recent media interview. However, the period of time will be limited to a maximum of five continuous years, he said, adding that he expects the Legislative Yuan would quickly pass the amendment after lawmakers start discussing the proposal. If the proposed amendment to the Immigration Act is adopted, it will benefit more than 460,000 foreign residents currently living in Taiwan.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it