GOVERNMENT
Computer glitches fixed
There should be fewer delays with the government’s new household registration system as of today, because many of the glitches that caused hiccups in the system last week have been fixed, Deputy Minister of the Interior Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家淇) said yesterday. The system’s designer worked over the weekend to make hardware and software adjustments to help the system run more smoothly, Hsiao said. Many people complained last week of having to wait at least one-and-a-half hours to register their marriages, apply for new national identification cards or get copies of their household registration after the new system was launched on Wednesday last week. Previously, the normal wait was about 20 minutes, Hsiao said. The glitches made it difficult for household registration office staff to access and enter data in the system, causing delays that affected about 40,000 to 50,000 people, Hsiao said.
DIPLOMACY
Envoy heading to Israel
New Representative to Israel Chi Yun-sheng (季韻聲) is to formally assume his post later this week. Chi, who previously served as deputy director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Bureau of Consular Affairs, is scheduled to leave for Israel on Wednesday. He promised to advance bilateral relations in trade, culture, tourism and other areas. The 30-year ministry veteran said that promoting Taiwan’s visibility among the Israeli public will be a priority. Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei Representative Simona Halperin said she expects bilateral ties to continue to be strengthened. Chi succeeds Chang Liang-jen (張良任), who is now the representative to Indonesia. Chi has served in South Africa and the US.
CHARITY
Philippines says thank you
The Philippine Department of Tourism launched a campaign on Saturday to say “thank you” to the countries that offered aid and support after the Philippines was ravaged by Typhoon Haiyan in November last year. “The Philippines says thank you,” reads the home page of the department’s Web site, which features photographs and video clips of people around the country thanking the world. “The Philippines wants to say a big thank you to everyone who has been helping us rebuild after Typhoon Haiyan,” the bureau said. The campaign will run in newspapers and billboards in cities around the world. Figures from the Philippines’ Foreign Aid Transparency Hub show that Taiwanese donated US$7.09 million in supplies and cash after Haiyan left thousands dead and many more displaced.
TOURISM
Holiday boost for Yunlin
Yunlin County got a good start to the Year of the Horse, attracting about 700,000 visitors and generating NT$200 million (US$6.60 million) over the Lunar New Year holiday from Jan. 30 to Tuesday last week, the county government said. About 211,000 people visited the Yunlin Agriculture Expo, which opened on Dec. 25 last year and will run through March 6, while others were drawn to the 100 tourist highlights in the country’s 21 towns and cities, the county government said. Flower farms in Cihtong Township (莿桐) proved to be the most popular attraction, drawing about half of all visitors, it said. About 20 percent of the visitors stayed in local accommodations, contributing to the NT$200 million in revenue — in addition to meals and shopping — the county earned over the holiday.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard