The government would use all available resources to help the nation’s two largest airlines weather a crisis caused by COVID-19, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
The Executive Yuan last week approved a budget of about NT$16.85 billion (US$560.96 million) proposed by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to bail out and boost the nation’s tourism industry and transport businesses, which have been severely affected by the global coronavirus epidemic.
However, there have been concerns that the budget might not be sufficient to cover all of the financial losses sustained by travel agencies and airlines.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
In addition to the budget, which was appropriated under the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Restoration (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例), the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Tourism Bureau have their own operational funds, Lin said before a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee.
The ministry would consider increasing the relief budget if there are not enough funds, he said, adding that priority should be based on the public interest.
About NT$4.2 billion of the budget would be used to support the nation’s two largest carriers — China Airlines and EVA Airways — which were forced to cancel scores of flights due to the outbreak, as well as duty-free shops in airports, Lin said.
The government would also reduce royalties, aircraft landing fees and other charges, he said, adding that the shortage in revenue would be compensated by the fund.
“They [the airlines] represent the nation. We should exhaust all possible means to support them under such a challenging situation,” Lin said.
“We also hope that they will hang in there, and not ask travel agencies and travelers to share their losses,” he said.
“Should the global COVID-19 outbreak persist, we will recommend that the government prepare a special bailout package for airlines,” he added.
Asked about the ministry’s plan to transport Taiwanese returning to the nation for next month’s Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, Lin said that the government yesterday launched a special taxi service at airports to ensure that public transportation does not become a hole in disease-prevention efforts.
This would help to more effectively control the flow of arriving travelers, particularly those from China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Italy and Iran, he said.
The service would ensure that travelers quickly arrive at their homes and begin a mandatory 14-day home quarantine after signing a health declaration or home quarantine notice, he added.
Lin expressed support for Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) decision to cancel all non-reserved seating during the holiday and to require all passengers to reserve seats under their real names.
The measures would help to prevent the spread of the virus, particularly in peak hours, when there is a lot of foot traffic in and out of high-speed rail stations, he said.
THSRC yesterday announced that it would install a total of 12 infrared thermal scanners at Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Zuoying stations before the holiday.
Two in Taoyuan have begun operations, it said.
The ministry has also already discussed allowing ministry officials to work remotely and breaking down big meetings into smaller ones should the disease continue to spread, with video conferencing an option if necessary, Lin said.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS