TOURISM
Huge rise in Visayas tourists
The Philippines saw a surge in Taiwanese tourists to the central Visayas in the first four months of this year, the largest tourist growth from any country in the region. Data from the Philippine Department of Tourism released earlier this week showed a 110.75 percent year-on-year increase in the number of Taiwanese tourists traveling to the central Visayas in the first four months of the year. In total, 21,631 Taiwanese visited the region, whereas only 10,264 visited in the same period last year. To explain the increase, travel agencies said that tourists are trying to avoid traffic jams in Manila. The government has been promoting its New Southbound Policy, encouraging Taiwanese to visit Southeast Asia and promoting Taiwan as a travel destination. The department’s rankings showed that Taiwan was the sixth-largest source of visitors to the Philippines for the first half of this year, behind South Korea, Japan, China, the US and Australia.
HEALTHCARE
International staff honored
Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) honored Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital yesterday for its contributions to healthcare among the nation’s allies. At a celebration marking the hospital’s 25th anniversary, Chen presented an Outstanding Organization Award to the hospital’s international medical team for “their work that has allowed the world to see Taiwan’s heart.” In particular, he acknowledged the work the staff has done in Palau, with which Taiwan has diplomatic ties. Palauans have come to describe the hospital’s medical team as “saviors from thousands of miles away,” Chen said. Also in attendance at the celebration was Shin Kong Group chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進), hospital president Hou Sheng-mao (侯勝茂) and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
FOREIGN AID
Taiwan donates to Texas
The government has donated US$800,000 to relief efforts in Texas after Hurricane Harvey caused widespread flooding in the state last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The government “has decided to donate US$800,000 to local [US] governments and community disaster relief efforts,” the ministry said in a news release yesterday. According to a report by the Washington Post, Taiwan is one of the few foreign countries to have pledged to donate toward relief efforts. In 2005, the government donated US$2 million toward relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans; Taiwan’s Red Cross Society donated NT$3.7 million (US$122,695) and the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation also raised funds and sent supplies. Tzu Chi’s US branch also helped after Hurricane Katrina, aiding 20,000 households in need and donating more than US$4.7 million.
TOURISM
Alishan railway adds stop
The Alishan Forest Railway is adding a stop to one of its tourist-oriented train tours, the Taiwan Railways Administration announced yesterday. The administration said that the Shuishan branch line would become part of the “Alishan Train Pongbi” cruise-style tour starting next month, taking passengers along a previously inaccessible route. Pongbi means to travel along a zigzag path. The track goes through a large forest, at the end of which is a 19.6m-long wooden bridge and the renowned Shuishan Giant Tree. The “Alishan Train Pongbi” package is NT$880 for a round-trip ticket, which includes a tour guide and lunch.
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
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to 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), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition