HEALTH
Avian flu hits more farms
Avian influenza has been confirmed on another 19 poultry farms, bringing the total number of farms affected nationwide to 487, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said yesterday. The majority are goose farms, it said. As of 6pm on Monday, 240 farms have been confirmed to have a new strain of H5N2, eight have the H5N2 subtype, 18 have H5N3, and 135 have H5N8, the bureau said. Another 56 farms were found to have been infected with both H5N2 and H5N8, two farms had both H5N2 and H5N3, and 19 had other subtypes of the H5 virus. The remaining nine farms on the bureau’s list were confirmed to be infected with H5 viruses, but the exact subtypes have yet to be identified.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
Island visits promoted
An additional 500 visas per day will be available for Chinese tour group members as of Monday — but just for groups that begin their trips by spending at least one night on Kinmen, Matsu or Penghu before traveling to Taiwan proper. The Tourism Bureau said the additional visas are part of an effort to promote travel to the islands. The daily quota for Chinese group tourists is 5,000 people per day, and the additional 500 visas will only be available for groups going to the outlying islands who follow the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association’s guidelines for accommodation, itineraries and shopping arrangements. The new policy will be in effect for one year as part of a trial project by the bureau to boost tourism on the islands, the association said. The association, along with China’s Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange, is responsible for handling cross-strait tourism issues.
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
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
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