■ CULTURE
Dragon Boat festivities start
The 2008 Tainan City Dragon Boat Race Championship festivities are starting today, with a record 119 teams competing this year, the Tainan City Government said yesterday. A series of traditional rituals, including offerings to the river gods, dragon eye dotting and other ceremonies, will be held ahead of the actual races, which will take place on the Tainan City Canal between Anyi Bridge and Chengtian Bridge on Saturday and Sunday evening. Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (�?]) said the city had completed preparations for the races, including cleaning up the canal and testing river current control. The Tainan competition has been held every year for the past several decades to mark the Dragon Boat Festival, which this year falls on Sunday.
■ Transportation
Airline fuel surcharge hiked
The government has approved an 8.3 percent fuel surcharge hike by airlines from June 16 in light of high global crude oil prices, aviation authorities said yesterday. The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said the fuel surcharge per passenger for long-haul flights would rise to US$84.50 from US$78, while that for short-haul routes would rise to US$32.50 from US$30. “The increases are to reflect market reality,” a CAA official said, adding that the new fuel surcharges were calculated based on a two-month average of US$157.44 per barrel, compared with a previous figure of US$140.33. The government has to authorize increases in the fuel surcharge, which last rose on May 15. The move comes after the government scrapped a freeze on gasoline prices and raised fuel costs last month by up to 16 percent.
■ POLITICS
Young Chen not running
Former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) office yesterday rebutted a TV report that his son was planning to run in the next legislative election in Tainan County. Chen’s office issued a statement saying that Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) was still in school and had no plan of running in the election nor any intention of pursuing a career in politics. The statement said that the office had already informed SET-TV before it ran the report, which the Chen office dismissed as “groundless.” It expressed regret and said it could not fathom why the TV station would still run the report.
■ DIPLOMACY
Siew meets Miyazaki chief
Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) urged Japan’s Miyazaki Prefecture Governor Hideo Higashikokubaru to promote bilateral exchanges during a meeting at the Presidential Office yesterday. Siew in particular encouraged his guest to help promote mutual understanding and interaction between students of the two countries on the basis of long-standing historical and cultural ties between the two countries. Siew said he was hopeful more frequent and advanced bilateral exchanges would be held, thanks to the opening of regular scheduled flights between Taipei and Miyazaki that began last Sunday. The vice president also asked Higashikokubaru to promote Taiwanese mangoes in Japan. EVA Airways offers round trips on the new route every Thursday and Sunday. Taking advantage of the newly opened flights, the governor, along with a 140-member delegation, is visiting Taiwan to promote tourism in his prefecture. Higashikokubaru was a popular TV comedian before being elected the governor of Miyazaki early last year.
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
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
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
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