DISASTER RELIEF
Philippines get more aid
Taiwan sent another two cargo planes filled with relief supplies to the storm-ravaged Philippines on Tuesday, bringing the number of shipments on military C-130 planes to 14 since Nov. 12. Tuesday’s flights carried 16 tonnes of supplies, the Ministry of National Defense said, bringing the total to nearly 100 tonnes of relief supplies for survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. The two aircraft arrived in Cebu at 3pm on Tuesday. The airlifts are part of Taiwan’s aid to the Philippines following the devastation brought by Haiyan, one of the strongest storms on record, which tore through the central Philippines on Nov. 8. The Cabinet has announced plans to set up a donation center and encouraged the public to deliver water, food, sleeping bags and medicine to Tsoying Naval Base in Greater Kaohsiung by Sunday. The collected supplies will be transported to storm-devastated areas of the Philippines once the defense ministry collects 10 tonnes.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
ARATS chairman to visit
China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) is scheduled to arrive in Taipei on Tuesday next week for an eight-day visit, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) announced yesterday. It will be Chen’s first trip to Taiwan since he took over as ARATS chairman. Chen will be heading a delegation of ARATS officials on the visit, which is aimed at promoting cross-strait trade and economic cooperation, the SEF statement said, adding that Chen will visit the nation’s free economic pilot zones, major Taiwanese conglomerates and China-funded companies. Chen is also to meet with former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmen Lien Chan (連戰) and Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), as well as some local government heads.
ASTRONOMY
Sunspots can be seen
A large group of sunspots will be visible with specialized equipment over the weekend as solar activity reaches its peak, according to the Taipei Astronomical Museum. The sunspots will be one of the most noticeable solar events since the sun entered a period of increasing magnetic field turbulence last year, museum official Chang Kuei-lan (張桂蘭) said. Chang added that the museum would provide professional equipment and assist astronomy buffs in catching the spectacle. The combined group, known as AR1897, stretches for more than 350,000km — about 27 times the diameter of Earth. The best times to see the spots are in the early morning and late evening when there is not much sunlight, the museum said.
FISHERIES
Tilapia’s image restored
Taiwanese tilapia farmers and vendors promoted their fish at an event in Seoul yesterday, seeking to undo the damage caused by a report aired on South Korea’s Channel A TV station. Taiwan Tilapia Alliance chairman Tsai Chun-hsiung (蔡俊雄) said Taiwan-bred tilapia is of high quality, inexpensive, nutritious and, most importantly, safe. The conference at a Seoul hotel was organized in response to Channel A’s program Food X-File, which in an Oct. 25 broadcast showed images of ponds covered in algae that it said were tilapia farms in Taiwan. A correction was later posted on the program’s Web site explaining that the images were of abandoned facilities. Correcting the image of Taiwan’s industry is important to tilapia producers because South Korea is the nation’s biggest market for the fish, according to the alliance’s statistics.
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