SOCIETY
Drugs seized in Indonesia
Taiwanese and Indonesian authorities seized 88 packets (89kg) of amphetamines worth about US$4.5 million in Indonesia in a joint operation on Friday last week, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The operation began after Taiwanese law enforcement was tipped-off several months ago that a criminal gang was trying to smuggle amphetamines in a stacker machine shipped from Kaohsiung to Indonesia, the bureau said. The container had been held in customs in Indonesia since March because of a lack of proper documentation, CIB International Criminal Affairs Division 1st Investigation Corps acting chief Yang Kuo-sung (楊國松) said. Three Indonesian suspects were arrested in a raid last month and the CIB is investigating the source of the drugs, which is likely in the south, he said, adding that police have identified a suspect they want to question.
EARTHQUAKE
Two quakes hit Taitung
Two earthquakes of magnitude 4.3 and 4.9 occurred within one minute of each other in Taitung County yesterday morning, the Central Weather Bureau said. The first quake struck at 10:48am and the second at 10:49am, and they were felt across parts of Taitung, Pingtung, Chiayi, Yunlin, Tainan and Kaohsiung. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter of the first earthquake was about 36.8km north of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 5km, the bureau’s Seismology Center said. The second temblor centered 33.6km west of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 6.5km and created widespread tremors across the center and the south. Seismology Center section chief Lin Tzu-wei (林祖慰) said the quakes were the result of energy released from shifting tectonic plates. “They were typical earthquake swarms, which could strike in a short period of time on a relatively moderate scale,” Lin said.
NATIONAL PARKS
Yushan trashed by tourists
Yushan National Park management on Thursday said that littering has become a problem, as people have been leaving immense amounts of trash when they visit the area. Since 2014, volunteers have cleaned up about 1,057kg of trash in the park, an average of 250kg per year, the management team said, citing figures from last month. About 1 million people visit the 103,121 hectare park every year and its environment and ecology could come under great strain if people continue to leave behind plastic bottles, food waste, toilet paper, cigarette butts and other types of trash, the management said, adding that visitors to Yushan National Park are asked to take their trash with them when they leave. Visitors are also reminded to use bathrooms so as not to contribute to pollution of the natural habitat, the management team added.
TOURISM
Kinmen visitor numbers jump
About 545,000 tourists visited Kinmen County in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 51 percent from the same period last year, data from the county government showed on Wednesday. Most visitors were Taiwanese, followed by Chinese tourists and international visitors, data showed. The county government has developed themed travel tours, music festivals and mountain hiking for domestic and foreign visitors, the Kinmen County Tourism Department said, adding that the county government would continue efforts to boost tourism and offer visitors a better experience.
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
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
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