DIPLOMACY
Envoy to France honored
The Taiwan-France Friendship Group of the French National Assembly conferred a decoration on Taiwanese representative to France Michel Lu (呂慶龍) on Wednesday in recognition of his achievements in strengthening ties between the two countries. Francois Brottes, chairman of the group, said he has worked with Lu for six years and found him to be an outstanding and hard-working individual. Lu was presented with a photograph of the Eiffel Tower to thank him for enhancing ties between the two countries, Brottes said, speaking at a luncheon held by the French National Assembly. He described Lu as “an iconic figure of Taiwan, just like the Eiffel Tower is a French icon.” Lu said he felt grateful to be honored.
TOURISM
New tours to lure Chinese
The Taiwan Strait Tourism Association said yesterday it would work with travel agencies to promote quality tours to help attract more visitors from China. Currently, the tours for Chinese visitors are short, as cheap as possible and of relatively poor quality, said Lee Chia-pin (李嘉斌), director of the association’s Shanghai office. In light of this, the association and six travel agencies launched six different all-inclusive tour packages at a tourism fair in Zhejiang Province on Wednesday, in an effort to improve services in areas such as accommodation, transportation, food and shopping, Lee said. The new tours, aimed at providing a better experience for Chinese travelers in Taiwan, were well received by visitors to the fair, he said. From July 2008, when Taiwan began admitting Chinese tourists, to Dec. 16 this year, the number of visits to Taiwan by Chinese travelers in group tours was more than 4.77 million, the association said.
SOCIETY
Sex scandal rocks school
Two high-school students in New Taipei City (新北市) have been suspended for two weeks after it was found that they had allegedly had sex in front of several other students in a classroom, school officials said. The high school said it has launched a probe into the case involving the two 15-year-olds and three other students, and is offering them counseling. The teenage boy and girl reportedly had sex in a classroom on a weekend, while other students watched and took photos and videos, which they then circulated around the school, the officials said. The incident came to the authorities’ attention after a mother saw the photos on a student’s phone and informed the school. A school official said it was difficult to control student behavior on weekends. The school promised to review its management of the campus on days when there are no classes.
POLITICS
KMT backs Yen Kuan-hen
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has announced the nomination of Yen Kuan-hen (顏寬恆), son of former Non-Partisan Solidarity Union legislator Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), to run in the legislative by-election in the second electoral district of Greater Taichung. Yen Kuan-hen, 35, was an assistant to his father before Yen Ching-piao was found guilty of corruption and was sentenced to three-and-half years in prison last month. Although Yen Ching-piao was an independent, he was deemed close to the KMT and his imprisonment could have an impact on the political makeup of Greater Taichung. The KMT’s Central Standing Committee on Wednesday approved Yen Kuan-hen’s nomination. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, told the party to spare no efforts in the campaign.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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