EDUCATION
Ma lauds student policy
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday lauded government efforts to attract students from overseas and said he expected the number of foreign students to top 100,000 next year. Ma said during a visit to the National Taiwan Normal University’s Linkou campus that it was one of the govenrment’s most successful educational policies over the past six decades. He described overseas Chinese students from Southeast Asia who have maintained close relations with Taiwan as “very valuable assets to the country.” Ma said when he first took office in 2008, the number of foreign students was fewer than 30,000, but he estimated that the number would reach 100,000 next year, when he steps down after his second term. He added that Taiwan signed an agreement with Malaysia four years ago to mutually recognize diplomas bestowed by schools in each country.
CRIME
Trafficking suspects arrested
Six people in Hsinchu County have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, authorities said on Sunday. The National Immigration Agency’s special operations unit in Chiayi City said it received a tip-off earlier this year that a man from Hsinchu, surnamed Wu (吳), and several karaoke club operators were running a human-trafficking ring and forcing runaway female migrant workers into prostitution. In a joint operation with prosecutors in Hsinchu and Tainan, the unit arrested six suspects and rescued 10 runaway female workers in five hideouts in Hsinchu, said Huang Yi-hsiung (黃義雄), deputy head of the unit. Wu was arrested once about three years ago on similar suspicions, but has allegedly set up a bigger operation by partnering with karaoke club operators this year, Huang 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