TOURISM
Bureau forecasts growth
Foreign tourist arrivals could increase from last year’s record 7.3 million to 7.7 million this year, with China and Southeast Asian countries the main sources of growth, the Tourism Bureau said. Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said the bureau would step up efforts to lure wealthy travelers from China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam because they are showing increasing buying power. Last year there were record high numbers of tourists from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore, which suggests an increasing potential in the regional market, the bureau said. The number of travelers from Hong Kong and Macau broke the 1 million mark last year to reach 1.01 million, up 24.3 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said. The tourism sector generated NT$340 billion (US$11 billion) in foreign exchange last year, bureau statistics show.
DIPLOMACY
Burghardt arrives for visit
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt arrived in Taipei last night for a five-day visit, the institute said. Burghardt was scheduled to meet with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and several major figures in politics and business, it said in a statement. It is Burghardt’s 14th trip to Taiwan since he took up the top AIT post in February 2006, the statement said. Burghardt was the director of AIT’s Taipei office from 1999 to 2001. He is also the director of East-West Seminars at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
TRAVEL
Ministry offers flood advice
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an advisory yesterday that the southeastern areas of the Australian state of Queensland are suffering from flooding and warned travelers to the area to pay attention to personal safety. The capital of Queensland, Brisbane, and areas of Ipswich, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast are all affected by the floods caused by torrential rain, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. It reminded Taiwanese students, young people on working holidays, expatriates living in Queensland, tourists and businesspeople planning to travel there that they should stay away from low-lying areas or places close to flooded rivers. The ministry also warned travelers of possible traffic stoppages in the Greek capital of Athens, which has been hit by a series of wildcat strikes by mass transportation system workers.
MUSIC
Producer excited over award
Award-winning US musician Daniel Ho yesterday said he was excited about a Taiwanese Aboriginal album he produced being nominated for a Grammy award for Best World Music Album, and he hoped to introduce the nation’s Aboriginal music to the world. Ho, a six-time Grammy Award winner, said he visited Taiwan three times over the past year to work with six Aboriginal artists on the album, titled On a Gentle Island Breeze (吹過島嶼的風). Ho said that while they do not speak the same language, music has no boundaries and he expressed hope of bringing more Aboriginal melodies from Taiwan to the world stage. Singers on the album include Hao-en (昊恩), a Puyuma, and Amis singer Illid Kaolo, recipient of Best Aboriginal Singer, Best New Artist and Best Aboriginal Album at the Golden Melody Awards last year. Ho’s album was produced by his production company and Taipei-based Wind Music International. The Grammy Awards ceremony will be held on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
The Grand Hotel Taipei has rejected media reports claiming that the hotel had prevented CBS from broadcasting coverage of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on its premises. Media reports alleging that the hotel owner, dissatisfied with CBS’s coverage, prohibited the network from broadcasting political content on the hotel premises, are not true, the hotel said in a statement issued last night. The reports were “inconsistent with how the hotel actually handled the matter,” it said. The hotel said it received a refund request from a
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