■ Transportation
MRT traffic to top 2.5 billion
The total passenger traffic of Taipei's mass rapid transit (MRT) system is expected to top 2.5 billion early this month, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp announced over the weekend. The figure will represent a 25-fold increase since the system's passenger traffic reached 100 million on Dec. 22, 1998, company officials said. For the second consecutive year, Taipei's MRT system was rated by University of London's Railway Technology Strategy Center as the most reliable system among the world's 25 major metro systems last year, they said. According to Deputy Taipei Mayor Chen Yu-chang (陳裕璋), while the section of the MRT system that is currently in operation totals 76km, another 76km are under construction and 250km are under planning. After all these projects are completed, the density of the MRT network will be similar to that of other major metro systems in the world, he said.
■ Society
Foreign spouses join contest
More than 60 foreign spouses of Taiwanese, dressed in the traditional costume of their countries, took part in singing and oral reading competitions yesterday in Taichung City at an event organized by the Cabinet to help foreign spouses learn Mandarin or local dialects. Lin Feng-hsi (林豐喜), executive director of the Cabinet's Central Taiwan Joint Services Center, said singing and reading are helpful ways to learn a foreign language. In this regard, the center has organized various singing and reading-oriented courses and activities for foreign spouses to help them blend into the local culture. Foreign spouses play an increasingly important role in the country, with one out of every five newlywed couples involving intermarriage and one out of every 6.5 babies born to foreign mothers -- mostly from China and Southeast Asian countries.
■ Transportation
Chen lauds Kaohsiung MRT
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lauded the Kaohsiung mass rapid transit (MRT) system as better than its Taipei counterpart after taking a test ride yesterday. Chen, accompanied by acting Kaohsiung Mayor Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) and Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp chairman Chiang Yao-tsung (江耀宗), rode an 8km section of the red line between Far Eastern Department Store and Hsiaokang. Yeh said that 20,000 people had taken the test ride on the same section, with more than 95 percent expressing satisfaction with the smooth travel. The MRT's red and orange lines are scheduled to be inaugurated at the end of next year. Chiang, who previously worked for the Taipei rapid transit system, said that the Kaohsiung MRT system has been efficient and that the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model of construction has saved the government NT$44.4 billion (US$1.34 billion). The cost of personnel is also cheaper and more jobs have been created, Chiang added.
■ Leisure
Vote for model villages
The Council of Agriculture urged the public to take part in an online selection of the nation's top 10 model fishing and farming villages for the chance to win big prizes. The selection will run until Feb. 28, and the public is invited to visit the 20 qualified villages -- culled from an initial screening of 50 villages -- on the council's Web site, a council spokesman said. The council will inspect the 20 villages and the results will be combined with the online vote for a final ranking that is slated to be announced in March, the spokesman said. Those who take part in the voting could win prizes ranging from a tour to digital cameras and MP3 players.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by