An aerobatic performance troop that was suspended for four years is to perform for the public at a Taichung Chingchuankang Airport base on Saturday next week, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
The Thunder Tiger Aerobatics Team is to showcase diving stunts at the Chingchuankang Aviation Festival.
Six rolling jet trainers are to ascend in a close formation before diving with each aircraft flying in different directions, ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said.
The stunt has not been executed since 2012.
The team is to deploy its entire fleet — seven AT-3 trainer jets — for the first time since 2014, when Lieutenant Colonel Chuang Pei-yuan (莊倍源) died after his aircraft collided with another and crashed during a training session, Chen said.
A three-jet tumbling stunt that Chuang was performing during the accident will not be executed, the ministry said.
The festival is the fourth open base event this year, and the nation’s most advanced jets, such as the F-16, the Mirage 2000 and the Indigenous Defense Fighter jet, are to take part in the aerial demonstration, Chen said.
Visitors will also be able to get a closer look at several aircraft, including the Lockheed P-3 Orion marine patrol aircraft, the S-2T marine patrol aircraft, Teng Yun unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters such as the AH-64 Apache, Sikorsky S-70C and the AH-1W Super Cobra.
Ground combat vehicles to be displayed include the Thunderbolt-2000 multiple rocket launcher, the Avenger missile launcher, CM33 Clouded Leopard armored vehicles and nuclear, biological, chemical reconnaissance vehicles.
The air force marching band and Aboriginal dancers are to perform and a fair is to be held on the base, the ministry said.
Taiwanese who present a photo ID at the entrance will be admitted free of charge.
Spouses of Taiwanese who do not have an Republic of China ID card should present documents to prove their legal status in Taiwan and be accompanied by their Taiwanese partner with a photo ID.
Foreign caregivers who are invited by those they care for should bring their passports and other relevant documents.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening 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) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
BACK TO WINTER: A strong continental cold air mass would move south on Tuesday next week, bringing colder temperatures to northern and central Taiwan A tropical depression east of the Philippines could soon be upgraded to be the first tropical storm of this year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the next cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Monday next week. CWA forecaster Cheng Jie-ren (鄭傑仁) said the first tropical depression of this year is over waters east of the Philippines, about 1,867km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), and could strengthen into Tropical Storm Nokaen by early today. The system is moving slowly from northwest to north, and is expected to remain east of the Philippines with little chance of affecting Taiwan,