■ MILITARY
Taiwan signs aircraft deal
Taiwan has signed a deal to buy 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft from the US and has asked the US to build a P-3C maintenance center in Taiwan, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Saturday. The report quoted Vice Admiral Wu Wei-rong (吳偉榮), director-general of the Armaments Bureau, confirming the P-3C deal during a background briefing to the press on Saturday. Wu said the Industrial Development Bureau signed the deal to buy the aircraft from Lockheed Martin last December, after the firm had agreed to include technology transfer, or industrial cooperation, in the deal. Under the agreement, Wu said, Taiwan has requested that eight of the 12 P-3Cs be manufactured in Taiwan, as well as a flight simulator. Lockheed Martin has submitted its industrial cooperation plan for Taiwan to the US Navy, the report quoted Wu as saying. The P-3C can perform in various roles including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, maritime surveillance, naval fleet support and search and rescue.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Cable car celebrated
The Maokong Gondola, plagued by breakdowns and controversy in its first few weeks of operation and open for less than a year, served its 3 millionth passenger yesterday afternoon just after 2pm, Taipei Rapid Transit said. As part of the celebrations marking the 3 millionth ride, the company handed out 10,000 commemorative gondola-shaped bottles of mineral water to passengers yesterday. The transit company also had five cable cars painted with colorful patterns and fitted with lights to celebrate the event. At 4.03km, the Maokong Gondola is the longest cable car system in the country and ferries passengers between two popular tourist attractions -- Taipei Zoo and the Mucha tea growing area -- in just 20 minutes.
■ AGRICULTURE
Vegetable prices soaring
Prices of vegetables have soared by an average of 30 percent to 50 percent after the Lunar New Year holiday and are expected to remain high this week, said a spokesman for Hsiluo Fruit and Vegetables Market, the country's largest wholesale produce marketing company. Tight supplies caused by reduced harvests as a result of weeks of cold and rainy weather, together with increasing demand from schools, are likely to keep vegetable prices high for at least another week, the spokesman said yesterday. The Agricultural and Food Agency said the cold spell has led to losses of NT$85.4 million (US$2.67 million) in aquaculture products and NT$57.1 million in fruit crops nationwide.
■ PUBLIC SAFETY
Cheap jewelry has a price
Nearly 80 percent of low-priced fashion accessories sold at bookstores may be of substandard quality and contain excessive amounts of toxic substances. The Bureau of Standards, Meteorology and Inspection selected 24 accessories randomly from bookstores and stationery shops that are popular with elementary and junior high school students. Test results showed that 19 of the 24 items failed to meet specified standards -- a failure rate of 79.2 percent if the results are representative of jewelry sold in such stores nationwide. Four of the accessories were found to contain excessive amounts of lead, with one piece of jewelry containing 2,305ppm. Safety standards set the limit for jewelry at 90ppm, the bureau said.
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
WARNING: Domestic coffee producers mainly grow arabica beans, as they self-pollinate, but they are more likely to have consistency issues, an expert said Taiwan ranks third in coffee consumption per capita in Asia, the latest Ministry of Agriculture data showed. Taiwanese consume 1.77kg, or 177 cups of coffee, per person each year, less only than Japan and South Korea, at 600 cups and 400 cups respectively, the ministry’s Tea and Beverage Research Station said. Although the nation mainly relies on imported coffee, there has been an increase in home-grown coffee bean production, the ministry said. Cuttings and other techniques are commonly used to ensure domestic beans have stronger floral and fruity flavors, it said. It is a fast-expanding market with Taiwan’s coffee consumption
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