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.
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
DIPLOMACY: It is Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo’s first visit to Taiwan since he took office last year, while Eswatini’s foreign minister is also paying a visit A delegation led by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon and is to visit President William Lai (賴清德) today. The delegation arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 4:55pm, and was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). It is Arevalo’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office last year, and following the visit, he is to travel to Japan to celebrate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Arevalo said at the airport that he is very glad to make the visit to Taiwan, adding that he brings an important message of responsibility
About 3,000 people gathered at events in Taipei yesterday for an annual candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, a brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities on a student-led demonstration in Beijing on June 4 36 years ago. A candlelight vigil organized by the New School for Democracy and other human rights groups began at 7pm on Democracy Boulevard outside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with the theme "Resist Transnational Repression, Defy Totalitarianism." At about 8pm, organizers announced that about 3,000 people had attended the event, which featured brief speeches by human rights advocates from Taiwan and China, including Hong Kong, as well
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