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.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
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