Hsinchu Air Base is to host an air show featuring the nation’s Mirage 2000 fighters on Nov. 25, the Republic of China Air Force Command said.
The air base is home to the 499th Tactical Fighter Wing. The unit was formed there in 1953 and is assigned to the defense of northern Taiwan.
Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) said the city plans to manage the event as an urban festival and arrangements would be made to ameliorate traffic and give city residents priority in attending it.
The last time the base was open to the public was in 2015, when an air show attracted 170,000 visitors, Lin said, adding that 135 shuttle buses were made available by the city for their transportation.
The Hsinchu City Government was able to capitalize on the success of the last air show by hosting a simultaneous festival promoting the city’s famous meatballs, Lin said.
Lin also thanked the personnel of the 499th Tactical Fighter Wing, saying that on numerous occasions they assisted the city during typhoons, adding that he believes the latest event would burnish the image of the air force and the city.
Air Force Commander General Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴) said he formed deep ties with the local community during his posting in Hsinchu Air Base as then-commander of the 499th Tactical Fighter Wing and that the air force extends its welcome to the public.
“I look forward to the publicity campaign and expect it to be a win-win for both the city and the air force,” he said.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a