■TOURISM
PRC medical tourists arrive
A 32-member medical tour group from China arrived in Taiwan yesterday for health check-ups, making it the first Chinese group to visit Taiwan for medical tourism since last July, when the government began allowing Chinese citizens to visit Taiwan as tourists. During their six-day stay, the members of the group are scheduled to visit six medical centers and hospitals. They are also expected to visit several clinics specializing in cosmetic surgery, the local travel agency that arranged the tour said. “Each member of the group is expected to spend 5,000 yuan (US$731) on their check-up,” an executive of the travel agency said. “Another group from China is expected to arrive in August for the same purpose if the first group is satisfied with its experience,” the executive said.
■ EDUCATION
City unveils English village
Kaohsiung City Government inaugurated the city’s fourth English village on Friday as part of its preparations for the World Games next month. “Creating an English learning environment for students in the city and cultivating their English speaking proficiency has become particularly important now that the games are fast approaching,” Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said. Like the other English villages in Kaohsiung, the village at Taiping Elementary School includes several real-life contexts — a simulated airport, hotel, shopping mall and a health store — for pupils to practice English. School principal Tsai Chin-yuan (蔡進元) said 12 recipients of the Fulbright Youth Scholarship will offer assistance to the school’s teachers in improving the English proficiency of students over the next 11 months. The other three English villages in Kaohsiung are located at Zuoying Elementary School, Fudong Elementary School and Lingjhou Elementary School.
■ TOURISM
KRTC launches bike shop
The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) yesterday launched the nation’s first government-affiliated foldable bicycle rental shop at Zuoying Mass Rapid Transit Station. The service was introduced in a bid to encourage backpackers to tour the city. The rental rate is NT$100 for four hours, NT$200 per day, NT$380 for two days or NT$540 for three days, KRTC said. Those who are interested in renting the bike will only be required to leave an ID instead of a deposit, it said. KRTC general manager Yen Pang-chieh (顏邦傑) said it hoped visitors to the city would take advantage of the new service to gain a better understanding of the beauty of Kaohsiung.
■ TOURISM
Student is 2 millionth visitor
“I’m so lucky,” said a Hong Kong university student on Saturday when he learned that he was the 2 millionth tourist to Taiwan this year and received a NT$200,000 prize. Wong Chi Hoi (黃智凱), a sophomore at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, arrived at Kaohsiung International Airport via a China Airlines flight on Saturday afternoon along with three of his friends for a backpacking trip. It is Wong’s first visit to Taiwan. He said he planned to tour scenic spots in Kaohsiung and Kenting National Park in Pingtung County. “The prize comes as a big surprise to me. I’m blessed ... I’ll share the prize with my friends,” said Wong who was also given a collection of gift items with a local flavor. The prizes are part of the Tourism Bureau’s efforts to attract more tourists to Taiwan. The 1 millionth visitor this year was a Malaysian who entered Taiwan from Taoyuan International Airport in April.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
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