ENVIRONMENT
Kaohsiung wetland honored
A wetland area in Kaohsiung was recently listed by BirdLife International as one of the world’s 12,000 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs). The recognition of Cieding Wetland (茄萣濕地) by the world’s largest partnership of conservation organizations brings the number of IBAs in Taiwan to 54, Council of Agriculture officials and conservationists said yesterday. The most valued aspect of the wetland area is that it hosts the endangered black-faced spoonbill, the Taipei-based Chinese Wild Bird Federation said, adding that the number of black-faced spoonbills recorded in the wetland in the five years to last year was five, 55, 56, 154 and 285 respectively. Last year’s figure was a record high, conservationists said, adding that the wetland is home to more than 150 bird species.
SPORTS
Nation hosts female boxers
The AIBA Women’s Junior and Youth World Championships, which is to be hosted by Taiwan for the first time, will be open to the public free of charge, New Taipei City’s Sport Office said. The bouts take place from tomorrow to Saturday next week, with 342 fighters from 44 nations competing for 23 titles, the office said. In the youth category, boxers aged 17 to 19 are to compete in 10 weight divisions, ranging from 45kg to 81kg and above, while in the junior category fighters aged 15 to 16 will compete in 13 weight divisions, ranging from 44kg to 80kg and above, the office said. Taiwan will be represented by 15 fighters and is expected to win at least one or two gold medals, the office said. City officials said the city government has been striving to promote the internationalization of combat sports, particularly women’s amateur boxing.
TOURISM
Delayed passengers flown in
TransAsia Airways yesterday brought 97 passengers from Japan after their flight had been severely delayed due to mechanical problems. The flight departed from Chitose Airport at 10pm on Wednesday, landing at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 1am yesterday. The 97 passengers were some of the 192 passengers who were scheduled to travel to Taiwan on TransAsia flight GE671 at 1:15pm on Tuesday. The plane developed problems with its hydraulic braking system and had to be towed off the runway upon landing in Japan on an earlier flight. TransAsia denied Japanese media reports that the plane had to make an emergency landing. TransAsia said 85 of the 192 passengers booked on the return flight to Taiwan took other airlines on Wednesday afternoon, while 10 changed their return date and the remainder waited for TransAsia to provide a new flight.
IMMIGRATION
Woman hides in ceiling
A Vietnamese woman caught hiding in a ceiling partition at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Wednesday said she was attempting to illegally overstay in Taiwan because she felt the country is “too nice to leave.” Retail staff at the nation’s main gateway first detected something strange after part of the ceiling in a women’s restroom near boarding gate A6 collapsed. Police later found the woman, who has been a migrant worker for the past few years, hiding in the false ceiling. The woman said she was scheduled to depart that afternoon, but changed her mind at the last minute because she “felt Taiwan is a good place,” police said. The woman climbed into the ceiling space, only to realize that it led nowhere, leaving her stuck there until the ceiling eventually collapsed, police said.
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
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
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