■ Travel
Airport to get facelift
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) has decided to give a facelift to Terminal 1 of the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, CAA officials said yesterday. The officials estimated that the CAA would spend NT$1.4 billion (US$42.42 million) over a three-and-a-half-year period on the renovation work. After the proposal is approved by the Executive Yuan, construction work would start within 15 months, the officials added. They said that the work would be conducted at night as much as possible to mitigate the impact on the operations of the terminal.
■ Road Safety
Dangerous roads revealed
The intersection of Roosevelt Road and Keelung Road is the most dangerous in Taipei, with more than 45 traffic accidents recorded there last year, the Taipei City Police Department reported yesterday. Completing the top-10 dangerous intersections list were Zhongshan N Road and Civic Boulevard, Civic Boulevard and Chengde Road, Renai Road and Dunhua Road, and Civic Boulevard and Chongqing N Road, with each registering more than 45 traffic accidents last year.
■ Health
Watch out for fatty milk
Consumers purchasing milk marketed as "premium" or "extra rich" might not be aware that they are paying extra for extra-fatty milk, warned the Tung foundation. "We found six brands on the market that is more than 4 percent fat," said Sheu Hui-yu (許蕙玉), "that puts them above the 3 percent to 3.8 percent range for whole milk according to national standards." In general, said Sheu, more Taiwanese should consider low-fat milk as a healthy alternative to flavored and whole milks. Sheu added that the average Taiwanese person only drinks half a cup of milk a day, much lower than the daily recommended intake of one to two cups. However, according to Tung Foundation data, two cups of premium or high-fat milk contains 19 grams of fat, 32 percent of the recommended daily intake.
■ Politics
Chen meets Nauru official
Ahead of the opening of Nauru's embassy in Taiwan today, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that he hoped ties between the two countries would go from strength to strength. Chen made the remark while receiving David Adeang, Nauru's foreign minister, at the Presidential Office. Taiwan and Nauru first established diplomatic relations in 1980. The Micronesian South Pacific island nation switched allegiance to China in July 2002, but re-established diplomatic relations with Taiwan in May 2005. Last September, Chen became the first Taiwanese president to visit Nauru, which became independent in 1968.
■ Society
Three found dead
The general manager of Toshiba's Taiwan branch, Kazunori Ishii, 59, was found dead in his residence in Taipei, along with a female Toshiba employee and her daughter. Police said the three were thought to have been poisoned by their water heater. Ishii was found lying on the floor in the kitchen, while the woman and her daughter died in the bathroom. The woman and her daughter were identified as Chen Ling-ni, 41, and Chen Nai-hsuan, aged six. Police said their relationship with Ishii was not clear. The three were believed to have died about two days before their bodies were discovered by Toshiba staff. Ishii arrived in the country to assume the position of general manager on March 16.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
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