TOURISM
Bureau targets daily rentals
The Tourism Bureau launched a program yesterday to crack down on the daily rental of residential property, a common low-cost option for travelers in Taiwan, in a bid to improve local travel quality. The bureau is encouraging members of the public to submit pictures and addresses of “day rental suites” they find by offering tipsters a chance to stay in star-rated hotels. Although they are inexpensive, day rentals have a reputation for substandard security and criminal activity, the bureau said. The bureau said it is moving to improve the situation by streamlining the licensing system for hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. To break what it called a myth that good guesthouses are expensive, the bureau is promoting a Web site at taiwanstay.net.tw, which includes options that cost NT$2,000 per night.
AGRICULTURE
Storms lay waste to crops
The series of torrential rainstorms in southern Taiwan that began on Thursday last week generated agricultural and farming losses totaling NT$41.7 million (US$1.39 million) as of 4pm yesterday, according to statistics released by the Council of Agriculture. Greater Kaohsiung bore the brunt, with NT$30.5 million, the council said. Produce ranging from melon and papaya to bitter melon suffered losses amounting to more than NT$10 million each, the council said, adding that watermelon was the most severely damaged produce, suffering a loss of NT$3.85 million, with 143 hectares of grove devastated. Non-headed cabbages also suffered a loss of up to NT$2.38 million. The damage to fisheries largely involved milkfish and mullet in Greater Kaohsiung and totaled NT$22.56 million, the council said. About 9,000 chickens and 250 ducks were lost or drowned, causing NT$440,000 in losses, it said.
SOCIETY
Dean appeals extradition
British national Zain Dean on Thursday appealed a court ruling on his extradition to Taiwan. In the appeal filed by his lawyer, Dean challenged the nation’s legal status, argued that his trial in Taiwan had been unfair and said that serving time in a Taiwanese prison would put his life in danger. The appeal is to be heard in a higher court in Edinburgh, Scotland, where Dean had fled to before being detained last fall. No date has been set. Dean, who was head of a British company’s office in Taiwan, was sentenced to four years in prison in July 2012 for killing a newspaper delivery man while driving under the influence of alcohol. On June 11, Sheriff Kenneth Maciver of the Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled that Dean should be extradited to Taiwan to serve his sentence. Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill approved Dean’s extradition on Aug. 1.
DIPLOMACY
Belize signs trafficking pact
The nation signed an agreement yesterday with Central American ally Belize on cross-border cooperation to combat human trafficking. The latest pact was signed in Taipei by Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) and Belizean Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse on behalf of their respective governments. Chen said that Taiwan has been listed as a “Tier 1” country in the US’ Trafficking in Persons Report for five years in a row, due to its good performance in the prevention and control of human trafficking. Taiwan is very happy to share its experience with and learn from other countries, Chen said. The agreement is the ninth of its kind that Taiwan has inked, the Ministry of the Interior said.
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