■ CYCLING
Bike paths under way
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated a project aimed at establishing a network of bike paths in eastern Taiwan to promote cycling in the region. The cost of the project has been estimated at NT$791 million (US$23.88 million), spread over four years until 2012, officials said. A main part of the project will be to open five “classic routes” covering Taipei, Ilan, Hualien and Taitung counties by the end of this year. The shortest of the routes will be the 13.3km Guanshan path in Taitung County, passing tourist attractions such as the Guanshan Water Park and a century-old Chinese banyan tree. The longest will be the 76km Shuangtan route in Hualien County. Also planned is a 71km border-route connecting Hualien County’s Rueisuei (瑞穗) and Taitung County’s Changbin (長濱), passing attractions such as hot springs and whitewater rafting. The other two routes will be a 31km path through the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area in Taipei County and a 68km route from Dongshan River to Donggang Seaside Park in Ilan County.
■ DIPLOMACY
Sapporo office planned
Taiwan is slated to open an office in July in Sapporo, the capital of Japan’s Hokkaido Prefecture, with a variety of functions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The main goal will be to provide assistance to Taiwanese nationals in Japan and to Taiwanese fishing boats operating in the nearby waters of the North Pacific, as well as to help attract Japanese tourists to Taiwan, the report said. Representative to Japan John Feng (馮寄台) will present the report on Taiwan-Japan relations tomorrow at the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee. Feng said the number of Taiwanese tourists visiting Hokkaido had exceeded 280,000 per year — far more than the 18,000 visits made by Hokkaido residents to Taiwan.
■ SOCIETY
Ex-runner to return to job
Former ultra-marathon runner Chiu Chu-jung (邱淑容) said yesterday she would return to her job at China Steel Corp on June 1 after a long break that began last August when she went to France to compete in a race that led to her losing her right leg and part of her left foot. The 52-year-old Chiu underwent a double amputation to save her from an attack of necrotizing fasciitis contracted through infected blisters the day she finished a 1,150km race through France in which she placed 17th among 44 runners and second in the women’s division. Chiu said her recovery had been progressing smoothly and that she was determined to return to work where she has worked for more than two decades.
■ CYCLING
Giant boss tackles China
More than 20 cyclists from Taiwan led by Giant Inc chairman King Liu (劉金標) launched a bike tour yesterday in Beijing that will take them 1,668km to Shanghai. The team of 23 Taiwanese cyclists is scheduled to arrive in Shanghai on May 28. They will pass through 13 ancient cities scattered throughout Hebei, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces before reaching Shanghai. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the start of the journey, Liu expressed hope that the trip would serve as a bridge for exchanges between bike aficionados on the two sides of the Strait. The 75-year-old Liu will ride a bicycle that was signed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at a cycling activity late last month.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the