Piracy: Police urged to crack down
Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) yesterday urged police around the nation to strengthen their anti-piracy efforts in order to avoid Taiwan's being placed by the US on its "priority watch list" for violations of intellectual property rights (IPR). Yu was visiting Kaohsiung to bestow awards on some members of the southern Taiwan section of the ministry's anti-piracy task force, and to listen to the report on the subject made by the task force's leader, Fu Chih-chung (伏志忠). Fu stressed that piracy has not only hampered the country's economic development and cut into the government's tax revenues, but has also hurt Taiwan's image abroad. He added that the southern Taiwan task force has intensified its crackdown on piracy and has gained fruitful results. He reported that so far this year, the anti-piracy task force has uncovered more than 1,000 such cases with a total value of some NT$4.52 billion (US$129.14 million).
Air traffic: More Macau-Taipei flights
Along with the sustained growth in the transport volume at Macau International Airport, the number of passengers on Macau-Taiwan flights in September showed a sharp increase from a year earlier, according to airport statistics released yesterday. The statistics showed that there were 161,257 arrivals and departures on Macau-Taipei round-trip flights in September, an increase of 11.81 percent from the 144,227 for the same month in the previous year. In the same month, there were 54,597 arrivals and departures on Macau-Kaohsiung round-trip flights, an increase of 22.41 percent from the year-earlier level of 44,601, the figures revealed. In general, there were 334,209 arrivals and departures at Macau International Airport in September, a year-on-year increase of 14.47 percent.
Literature: American hawks his books
Dan Bloom, a 43-year-old American from Boston, has visited over 20 night markets in Taiwan this year to sell his books In love with Taiwan (哈上台灣) and In love with Taiwanese night markets (哈上台灣夜市). Six years ago, an invitation from a Taiwanese friend brought Bloom to Taiwan and Chiai, where he has made his home ever since. After teaching English and writing for local English papers, Bloom wrote his first book, In love with Taiwan. Low sales figures made him decide to bring the book to Taiwan's night markets, where he learned the tricks of the trade from local stall owners. As he sees it, night markets do not only offer food, fun and cheap products, but they also display unique local features. He says selling books is not his only purpose for being at the night market, he also enjoys the hustle and bustle, the myriads of stalls and the human interaction it offers.
Diplomacy: Panamanian minister to visit
Panamanian Minister of Labor Joaquin Jose Vallarino III was scheduled to depart for Taiwan yesterday for a visit to study the nation's labor policy, labor protection, labor-management relationships and vocational training. While in Taiwan, Vallarino will call on Chen Chu (陳菊), chairwoman of the Cabinet-level Council of Labor Affairs, and other Taiwan officials, as well as attend Taiwan's Double Ten National Day celebration activities. Taiwan has set up a vocational training center in Costa Rica to provide Central American nations with which it has friendly relations to cultivate teachers. Vallarino is scheduled to arrive in Taipei tomorrow and depart for Panama Friday.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
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