ENTERTAINMENT
Orchestra to perform
Taiwan’s classical music fans have the rare opportunity to see the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra perform in October. Widely regarded as one of the world’s best, the orchestra is to perform in Taiwan for the first time in 11 years. Led by conductor Christoph Eschenbach, the orchestra is to give concerts on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14 at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, according to promoter, Management of New Arts (MNA). The orchestra is also to perform on Oct. 15 in Kaohsiung for the first time, at the Jhihde Hall, MNA said. The last time the Vienna Philharmonic performed in Taiwan was in 2004. The upcoming concerts are part of the orchestra’s Asian tour, which includes performances in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
DIPLOMACY
Honduran leader seeks trade
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez is to preside over a seminar in Taipei today seeking more foreign investment in his country and promoting bilateral trade relations. Hernandez, who is heading a delegation of government officials, arrived yesterday on the last leg of an Asian trip that has also taken him to South Korea and Japan to attract foreign investment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. It is Hernandez’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office in January last year. The seminar is to introduce investment and commercial opportunities in the Central American country to the business community, said Jerry Yang (楊司恭), deputy director-general of the ministry’s Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs. Hernandez is also set to meet with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) tomorrow and is to be welcomed with a 21-gun salute at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the ministry said.
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
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
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard