TRAVEL
Taiwanese dies in Thailand
A man found dead in an apartment in Thailand’s Chonburi Province on Tuesday has been confirmed as Taiwanese, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand said on Wednesday. The office identified the man as a 47-year-old Taiwanese, surnamed Hsu (許), and said that it has notified his family in Taiwan and would assist them in traveling to Thailand. It will also help Thai police investigate the cause of Hsu’s death, it said. Thai media reported that police arrived at the apartment after receiving reports about a smell and found the man lying on his bed with charcoal burners and a Republic of China passport by the bedside. They also found a note written in English saying: “I am sorry moto give owner.” Initial investigation points to suicide by burning charcoal in a confined space, police said.
AGRICULTURE
Watermelon festival returns
A watermelon festival is to resume in Kinmen County tomorrow after a six-year hiatus, a local community development association in Jinsha Township (金沙) said. The festival in Sinciandun Township (新前墩), which was held annually since 2003, was suspended after its eighth year, community head Chen Ching-hu (陳慶虎) said. Besides watermelons, the community is also known for other agricultural produce, including white cabbages, bamboo shoots, peanuts, corn, white radishes, carrots, pumpkins and sweet potatoes, all of which were important sources of income for the community, when revenue was primarily generated from the military personnel stationed nearby, Chen said. However, with the decrease in military personnel over the past few years, demand for the township’s produce has fallen, he added. Chen said he hopes the resumption of the festival will help attract visitors to Sinciandun.
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