Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (
Hu said that this is because Takeng, known as the "Yangmingshan of Taichung," has more bamboo, the main food of pandas.
Hu made the remarks a day after outgoing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Hu said Taichung has for three-and-a-half years actively sought to house Chinese pandas. Noting that although Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
The local media has speculated that the KMT hopes the pandas will be housed in Taichung in order to help Hu's campaign for a second term in office in the year-end mayoral election.
If the pandas are housed in Taichung, Hu said he will not rule out the possibility of having them shown temporarily in the south, so people in that part of the country don't have to travel all the way to Taichung to see the furry creatures.
China offered to send a pair of pandas to the Taiwanese people as a goodwill gift at the conclusion of Lien's visit to China in early May.
A senior official of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said recently that the pandas can be sent to Taiwan on four conditions: that appropriate application procedures are followed, that a suitable living environment for the pandas is found, that all relevant regulations on delivery are abided by and that approval is obtained from major international conservation groups.
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
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