TRAVEL
Airport tax to rise in April
The airport tax departing passengers must pay is set to rise from NT$300 (US$9.5) to NT$500 in April, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said yesterday. The increase in revenue will be used to improve airport facilities and promote tourism, the agency said. Airport tax has not been raised for 27 years, and an increase in the fee would bring the nation more in line with international standards, the agency said. Singapore’s Changi Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport both charge more than NT$800 per passenger, while Japan’s Narita Airport and Incheon International Airport in South Korea charge about NT$700. The CAA said the airport tax brought in about NT$5.3 billion last year. After the tax hike takes effect, the government will earn about NT$9 billion in airport tax annually, and the previous 60-40 distribution ratio will become 50-50, the agency said.
HEALTH
Enterovirus 71 case reported
The public should remain on alert against enterovirus and pay attention to hygiene after the first imported case of enterovirus 71 infection was reported recently, the Centers for Disease Control said yesterday. A three-year-old boy who lives in Malaysia developed a sore throat and earache after his family arrived in the nation on Nov. 26, the agency said. He was confirmed to have enterovirus 71 on Nov. 27 and has now recovered. The centers reminded the public to take precautions, as the virus could remain active in the winter. Infants and children under the age of five are at increased risk of developing enterovirus infections with severe complications, officials said, adding that as soon as a child shows suspected symptoms of the virus, such as persistent fever, drowsiness, inactivity or continuous vomiting, the child should be taken to a hospital immediately for a check-up.
FISHERIES
Captain dies after capsizing
A fishing boat captain has died and two other crew members remain unaccounted for after their vessel hit rocks in waters off the northern coast and capsized late on Friday, the Coast Guard Administration said. The boat, which set sail at 1pm from Yehliu (野柳) in New Taipei City with 11 people aboard, was reported to have overturned at 11:27pm, the agency said. Coast guard personnel managed to rescue eight people from the sea. The captain’s body was found about 6am yesterday. The search is continuing for the two crew members, one of whom is Taiwanese and the other Indonesian, the coast guard said.
CRIME
Winery under investigation
A winery in Taoyuan County’s Yangmei Township (楊梅) is under investigation for allegedly selling Australian red wine diluted with a locally made version to distributors and supermarkets. The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday said that Universal Distiller Product Co had allegedly sold various kinds of red wine, labeled as imported, to distributors that included hypermarkets and convenience store chains. At least some of the wine was not entirely imported, but had had been mixed with cheaper local wine, prosecutors said, adding that the winery had sold more than 100,000 bottles of diluted red wine over the past year. They said the company allegedly made a profit of almost NT$10 million from sales of the suspect wine.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
An elderly man with underlying health conditions died in mid-January, eight days after the onset of symptoms, marking Taiwan’s first hantavirus death this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The man, who was in his 70s and lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安), tested positive posthumously for hantavirus after passing away on Jan. 13 from sepsis complicated by multiple organ failure and pneumonia, the CDC said in a press release. According to the CDC, the man sought treatment on Jan. 6 for respiratory issues and low blood pressure before returning two
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