■ TRANSPORT
Passenger sues over pets
A passenger has filed an administrative lawsuit against the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) because it allows people to bring pets on trains. The administration has been ordered to present an official response within 10 days, TRA Deputy Director-General Chang Ying-huei (張應輝) said yesterday. Chang said this was the first lawsuit to be brought against the TRA because of one of its policies. Court documents show the passenger claims that the implementation of the policy infringes on his rights as a passenger, Chang said. The TRA has been allowing passengers to board trains with their pets since July 1 in response to a request from the legislature. Before its implementation, the administration had said it would evaluate the policy for three months. The administration has conducted two surveys among passengers, in both of which passengers opposing the policy outnumbered those supporting it.
■CULTURE
Bands head to Tainan County
The 15th Asia-Pacific Band Music Festival opens in Tainan County on Saturday, with bands from 27 countries and 152 local groups scheduled to perform during the week-long event. Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) said the festival would be the biggest to date, with more than 10,000 band members expected to attend. Su said the festival presented a great opportunity for local band enthusiasts to learn from some of the world’s best performers. The opening day of the festival will feature a band music parade in the neighborhood of the Nan-Ying Green Heart Esplanade Park, the organizers said. The festival is being organized by the Tainan County Government and the Taiwan Band Association. More information is available on the Tainan County Government Cultural Affairs Bureau’s Web site at www.tnc.gov.tw/apbda.
■POLITICS
Poll shows support for bears
A government survey yesterday showed that 56 percent of respondents are in favor of bringing pandas from China to Taiwan, and that almost 31 percent consider the end of the year to be the best time for the animals’ arrival. The survey, conducted by the Cabinet’s Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, sampled 977 people aged 20 or older. A hundred people refused to answer questions in the survey. The results showed that 60 percent of respondents said pandas would help boost the nation’s tourism industry, while 47 percent said the pandas would facilitate cross-strait reconciliation. Sixty-two percent of those interviewed said that hosting the pandas would increase public knowledge of animal protection, and 54 percent said local zoos would be capable of taking care of the animals.
■SOCIETY
Jolin to host fundraiser
Singer Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) will host a fundraising event for worldwide famine relief in Taipei on Aug. 16, a local charity organization said. The campaign, sponsored by World Vision Taiwan, will be held at National Taiwan University. Tsai also acts as a spokeswoman for the campaign. World Vision, an international Christian relief and development organization, hopes to raise NT$150 million (US$4.9 million) at the fundraiser to promote its cause. Some of the proceeds will be allocated to assist children of HIV/AIDS sufferers, children and families affected by war, disadvantaged Taiwanese families and typhoon victims, the organizers said. More information is available on the charity’s Web site, www.worldvision.org.tw.
■ DIPLOMACY
No confirmation on envoys
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will consult the governments of Singapore and Japan regarding the appointment of new representatives as a matter of protocol and would make a formal announcement, probably by the end of this month. “Given the fact that nations such as the United States, Japan and Singapore are ‘indicator countries,’ it is a diplomatic norm for us to notify and consult with these countries before deploying representatives,” ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said yesterday. He would not confirm reports that former National Security Bureau director Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐) has been chosen as the new representative to Singapore and former National Security Council adviser Yang Jung-ming (楊永明) would be sent to Japan. He said the foreign minister would evaluate the other diplomatic vacancies, such as posts in Europe, based on the interest and competence of the candidates.
■TRANSPORT
Gondola to get timed tickets
The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) announced yesterday that it will introduce a timed ticket system on weekends for the Maokong Gondola next month to reduce the long lines of people waiting to ride the cable cars. TRTC vice president Zhao Hsiung-fei (趙雄飛) said starting on Aug. 2 people would be able to go to two locations to draw tickets giving them the time slots for their rides: one will be at the entrance to the Taipei Zoo MRT station while the other would be the ticket window of the gondola’s Taipei Zoo stop. The TRTC would also install two monitors at the gondola’s Taipei Zoo Station to provide information about time slots, he said. The cable car system has carried more than 5.2 million passengers since it opened on July 4 last year.
GREAT POWER COMPETITION: Beijing views its military cooperation with Russia as a means to push back against the joint power of the US and its allies, an expert said A recent Sino-Russian joint air patrol conducted over the waters off Alaska was designed to counter the US military in the Pacific and demonstrated improved interoperability between Beijing’s and Moscow’s forces, a national security expert said. National Defense University associate professor Chen Yu-chen (陳育正) made the comment in an article published on Wednesday on the Web site of the Journal of the Chinese Communist Studies Institute. China and Russia sent four strategic bombers to patrol the waters of the northern Pacific and Bering Strait near Alaska in late June, one month after the two nations sent a combined flotilla of four warships
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
‘LEADERS’: The report highlighted C.C. Wei’s management at TSMC, Lisa Su’s decisionmaking at AMD and the ‘rock star’ status of Nvidia’s Huang Time magazine on Thursday announced its list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI), which included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) and AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰). The list is divided into four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Wei and Huang were named in the Leaders category. Other notable figures in the Leaders category included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Su was listed in the Innovators category. Time highlighted Wei’s
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
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