Travelers to Japan should avoid taking the train during rush hour and should keep their luggage away from train doors and corridors, Quality Travel Development Association chairman Ringo Lee (李奇嶽) said yesterday, following complaints regarding Taiwanese tourists’ behavior.
On Friday, a Taiwanese netizen posted a photograph on Facebook showing a group of Taiwanese tourists in Japan blocking a train corridor with their bags.
The photo was taken on a Keisei Electric Railway Co train connecting Narita Airport with downtown Tokyo, the post said.
According to the post, as the train approached a major station, an announcement in Chinese, Japanese and Korean reminded the passengers to remove their baggage from the corridor to allow others to pass.
However, instead of heeding the announcement, the tourists laughed out loud before pretending to be asleep, the post said.
Several Japanese who witnessed the behavior began discussing where the tourists were from, the post said, adding that they first assumed that they were from China, but a person soon found that they were Taiwanese because of a sticker on one of their suitcases.
The netizen felt extremely embarrassed as a Taiwanese traveler riding on the same train, he said.
In Japan, trains are the most popular way of traveling between cities and airports, because taxis are expensive and buses have complicated routes, Lee said, adding that when taking the train with large baggage, it is important to follow the rules and not be rude.
Many Japanese rely on the train for their daily commutes and trains on major routes are extremely crowded during rush hours, Lee said.
Travelers should do research and avoid rush hours, or they could not only face uncomfortable situations, but also inconvenience other passengers, he said.
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