CRIME
Taiwanese jailed in Thailand
Three Taiwanese have been arrested in Thailand on suspicion of fraud, in a joint operation carried out by Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau and local law enforcement agencies, Thai police said yesterday. The three men, who were arrested in a hotel room in downtown Bangkok on Friday, are believed to be the leaders of a fraud ring that was raided in Cambodia and Malaysia in February, police said. Police said that information obtained during the two raids indicated that the suspects in both countries belonged to the same fraud ring, which was being run by Taiwanese. Taiwanese ringleaders were using Thailand as a recruitment base for hiring locals to carry out telecom scams that targeted mostly Thai nationals, police said.
DEFENSE
Trainer to be ready next year
A prototype for a domestically developed trainer aircraft is expected to be ready next year, Aerospace Industrial Development Corp chairman Anson Liao (廖榮鑫) said. Following a visit by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to the firm’s Gangshan factory in Kaohsiung on Friday, the company is confident that it will deliver 66 trainers by 2026 as agreed upon, he said. It would deliver a prototype by September next year and flight tests are expected to start in 2020, Liao said. The company partnered with 71 local and foreign businesses for parts to decrease costs, while still meeting the Ministry of National Defense’s standards, he said. The ministry has allocated a budget of NT$68.6 billion (US$2.31 billion) for the project, which is expected to improve the nation’s defense and weapons development capabilities.
HEALTH
New measles case confirmed
A new measles case has been confirmed at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Friday. The patient, in his 20s, on Sunday last week sought medical help after developing a rash and a fever, the CDC said. Tests confirmed on Friday that he had the measles, it added. The man has since been quarantined at home for observation and treatment, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. The patient had not left the nation in the past few months, and had been vaccinated against the measles at a young age, he said, adding that the patient is suspected of having contracted the virus when he visited the hospital on April 2. The patient has since come into contact with 21 people, whose health condition is to be monitored until May 14, when the virus’ incubation period ends, the CDC said.
CRIME
Suspected shoe thief nabbed
A Keelung man surnamed Chen (陳) was arrested on suspicion of theft after police discovered 868 pairs of used women’s shoes in his residence. Police searched Chen’s parents’ home, where he lives, following a tip-off from the management committee of a residential complex in the city’s Anle District (安樂) that he could be a shoe thief, the Keelung City Police Bureau Fourth Precinct said. The committee had installed surveillance cameras after receiving multiple complaints from female residents that their shoes were missing, police said. Officers seized the shoes believed to have been stolen, police said. Chen, 40, was quoted by police as saying that he is a shoe fetishist and admitted to stealing shoes from his neighbors since June 2013.
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
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
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