TOURISM
Nation ranked on halal index
Taiwan is the seventh-best destination for Muslim travelers outside the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states, according to an annual report released this week by Mastercard and CrescentRating. With a score of 52.4, Taiwan was behind Singapore (67.3), Thailand (61.8), the UK (60), South Africa (53.6), Hong Kong (53.2) and Japan (52.8), the Global Muslim Travel Index 2017 showed. It was ahead of France (52.1), Spain (48.8) and the US (48.6). The index covers 130 destinations worldwide, measuring them by 11 criteria, including whether they are family-friendly, safe in general and particularly for Muslim travelers, have a large number of Muslim visitor arrivals, offer enough dining options, provide adequate halal assurances and access to prayer spaces.
SOCIETY
Dog owner charged
The owner of a dog that allegedly caused a traffic accident on Friday that resulted in the death of a scooter rider could be charged with negligent manslaughter, a prosecutor said. The rider, surnamed Chuang (莊), was riding his scooter in Changhua County’s Hemei Township (和美) when he hit a dog that was allegedly roaming loose on the streets, the police said. Both the dog and the rider died in the collision and police handed the dog owner, surnamed Yang (楊), over to prosecutors. According to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), pet owners are responsible for protecting and restraining their pets and bear a legal responsibility if they run into roads and disrupt traffic, Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office deputy chief prosecutor Lin Han-chiang (林漢強) said.
SOCIETY
Sand sculptors accused
Two foreign sand sculptors visiting Taiwan for an annual exhibition in New Taipei City have been banned from leaving the nation after allegedly sexually assaulting a Taiwanese woman, prosecutors said yesterday. Prosecutors questioned the two men after viewing closed-circuit TV camera footage from the venues where the incident allegedly took place, the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office said. The woman told police she met the two at a reception held by the organizers of the Fulong International Sand Sculpture Art Festival in a hotel in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) on Thursday. The woman said that she drank a lot of alcohol at the event and that after she became very intoxicated, the men took her to a nearby hotel and sexually assaulted her. She reported the alleged incident after she woke up naked and in pain, she told investigators.
EDUCATION
‘Makerthon’ event begins
A regional round of the first “Intelligent Living Makerthon” for vocational college students began yesterday, with National Taipei University of Technology hosting 43 teams comprising 122 contestants. The Ministry of Education is running the nationwide competition as part of its promotion of a “Maker Movement.” The ministry said there would be eight categories at the games, including food, clothing, living, transportation, education and entertainment. Participants at the northern venue were asked to solve problems about dormitory life. The contestants took part in a discussion and are scheduled to give their presentations today. Twenty-five teams will progress to the final on Aug. 14 and 15. The winners will receive a prize of NT$200,000.
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