Taiwan is preparing to donate US$500,000 in mine-weeping equipment to the coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group, Deputy Minister of National Defense Cheng De-mei (鄭德美) said yesterday at a legislative hearing that highlighted the challenges posed by the nation’s continued exclusion from international terrorist intelligence databases.
Cheng made the remarks in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) at a hearing of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee on anti-terrorism measures as Taipei prepares to host the Summer Universiade in August.
The mine-sweeping equipment has been prepared, Cheng said, adding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in the process of coordinating the donation.
Several legislators expressed concern over whether the government is receiving adequate intelligence to prevent a possible terrorist attack during the Universiade.
“There is no way for us to access information on lost or missing passports and travel documents, except indirectly through other governments,” DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said, adding that the nation’s exclusion from Interpol denied it access to key crime and terrorism databases.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志忠) said while the Interpol has rejected Taiwan’s requests to access the databases, the European Police Office (Europol) has given a more positive response and individual governments have shared information from their databases.
However, the nation continues to lack real-time access to Interpol databases, he said.
National Police Agency Deputy Director-General Chou Wen-ke (周文科) said that Tokyo has supplied Taipei with information from its Interpol databases.
In response to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), National Security Bureau Director-General Peng Sheng-chu (彭勝竹) said that the US has provided anti-terrorism training to Taiwanese law enforcement units to prevent a possible attack during the Universiade and will send observers to monitor drills.
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