Taiwan’s tropical vibe is to be featured on National Geographic’s Family Channel later this month thanks to the Tourism Bureau’s latest efforts to work with international leisure programs to promote the nation.
Taste of the Tropics: Taiwan is scheduled to premiere across Asia and Australia on Friday on the National Geographic Channel and NatGeo People Channel, highlighting the nation’s location on the Tropic of Cancer, the bureau said on Thursday.
Presented by Harry Yuan (原和玉), who also hosts National Geographic’s martial arts program Kung Fu Motion, the new show is to introduce three counties that the Tropic of Cancer intersects.
“Hualien, Chiayi and Penghu will appear in the program, while their gourmet food and special outdoor activities, such as canoeing, are touted,” a company spokesperson said.
“The launch of the program also celebrates the Tourism Bureau’s goal of promoting Taiwan’s diversity and unique lifestyles,” bureau Deputy Director-General Wayne Liu (劉喜臨) said.
“Hopefully, through the joint recommendation from us and the National Geographic Channel, more international tourists can be attracted to visit Taiwan, a green gem on the Tropic of Cancer,” Liu said during the program’s launch on Thursday.
The bureau announced on Wednesday that it worked with the Travel & Living Channel to feature presenters from around the world in its latest travel series — Fun Taiwan.
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
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
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