■AGRICULTURE
Papaya farmers struggling
A Chiayi County farmers’ association official urged agricultural authorities yesterday to help the county’s papaya farmers cope with losses suffered as result of a tornado and hailstorm that struck Jhongpu Township (中埔) on Thursday. Chang Han-ching (張漢清), a secretary at the Jhongpu Farmers Association, said the tornado and hailstones damaged about 30 hectares of papaya plantations in villages including Jinlan (金蘭), Fushou (復收), Longmen (龍門) and Sanceng (三層), causing millions of dollars in losses. Screen houses were damaged and fruit trees were either snapped in half or toppled over, Chang said. The Jhongpu Township Farmers’ Association would help the farmers apply for government subsidies and expressed hope that agricultural units would also help to offset the farmers’ losses, Chang said.
■CHARITY
Christian group plans to fast
The Taiwan chapter of World Vision, a global Christian charity dedicated to helping poor children and families, will hold a “Hunger 30” drive in Taipei today, in which participants will fast for 12 hours, the organizer said yesterday. First lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) is expected to attend the annual drive, to be held at the National Taiwan University Sports Center, World Vision Taiwan said in a press statement. World Vision Taiwan has been organizing activities to help people experience the pain of hunger and raise their awareness of helping the hungry since March 1, the statement said. The charity has offered assistance to victims of quake-hit Sichuan Province in China and cyclone-ravaged Myanmar.
■TECHNOLOGY
Firms to build electric bikes
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday that the government-financed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) would help domestic manufacturers churn out some 100,000 electric motorcycles in four years. Liu made an inspection tour of the ITRI headquarters in Hsinchu, where he was briefed on the progress in the research and development of various high-tech products, including the environmentally friendly electric motorcycles. He said the government would see to it that some 100,000 electric motorcycles, powered by replaceable batteries, are produced by private motorbike manufacturers around the country in four years amid louder calls for energy-saving and carbon-cutting measures.
■RECREATION
Kinmen park extends hours
The Kinmen National Park Administration said yesterday that it had decided to extend the opening hours at its service centers within the park for the duration of the summer season in response to the needs of visitors. Beginning yesterday, the hours of operation at service centers at the park’s main attractions, including the Jhongshanlin Recreational Area, the Chingkuo Memorial Hall, Cih Lake, the Gunington Battlefield Museum and the Aug. 23 Battle Museum, will be extended from 8am to 5pm to 8am to 5:30pm. The agency said many visitors to the park had complained that because of longer daylight hours and more visitors during the summer, the service centers’ hours of operation were not long enough. The service centers’ hours of operation will return to normal on Sept. 16, it said.
■AGRICULTURE
Farms offer DIY tours
Five leisure farms in Tainan County’s Dongshan Township (東山) yesterday started a month-long pick-it-yourself program organized by the county government. Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) said visitors to any of the five orchards need only pay an entrance fee of NT$100 (US$3.20) per person, with children under 110cm admitted free. They can eat as many freshly picked longans as they want before taking an additional 1.8kg of the fruit home at no extra charge.
■AVIATION
CAL fuselage cracks
China Airlines (CAL,華航) said last night that flight CI-160, departing from Taipei to Incheon, South Korea, at 8:08am, was found to have a 15cm crack in the fuselage and two damaged tires after landing at Incheon International Airport at 10:50am. The cause of the crack is still under investigation and could be the result of an unknown object on the runway, a statement issued by CAL said. CAL confirmed that Flight CI-160, carrying 245 passengers and crew, landed safely at Incheon. An A330-300 was immediately sent to Incheon to carry the return Flight CI-161 passengers back to Taipei, the statement said.
■POLITICS
Georgia crisis is a warning
Taiwan should learn a lesson from the ongoing conflict in the Caucasus and beware of a similar situation with China, a Taiwanese political analyst said yesterday. “Georgia’s tragedy is a warning for Taiwan. Georgia sees a Russia, which wants to regain its past power. Taiwan sees a China that has already risen,” said political analyst and former Taipei Times editor-in-chief Antonio Chiang (江春男). “Every now and then, thug leaders pick out a weakling and knock his head against the wall, to remind others who is in charge,” he wrote in an article entitled “A Small but Smart War,” in his column in the Apple Daily. “This time Georgia was hit so hard that it suffered a concussion. The whole world saw this. To [Russian Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin, this is a small but smart war. He paid a small price but achieved great results.”
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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