■ AVIATION
Joke bomber repatriated
A man who forced a China Airlines (CAL) passenger plane to conduct an emergency landing in China after he claimed to be carrying explosives on board was repatriated to Taiwan yesterday and will face possible judicial punishment. Lin Nan-hai (林南海) was reported to have told cabin crew during a flight on Saturday to Shanghai from Taipei that he had explosives in his luggage. Out of safety concerns, the captain immediately diverted the plane to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. No explosives were found. Lin was arrested and detained by Hangzhou police after he told them he had made the comment as a joke, but Taiwan holds jurisdiction over the case. Prosecutors in Taoyuan County have launched an investigation into Lin’s alleged violation of the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法). If Lin is found guilty of spreading false information jeopardizing aviation safety, he will face up to three years in prison, prosecutors said.
■ SERVICES
Post offices to accept FedEx
It is now possible to drop off FedEx mail or packages at post offices, Chunghwa Post (中華郵政) announced yesterday. The nation’s largest postal service yesterday said it has formed a strategic alliance with the US-based fast delivery firm. Between now and July 1, 74 designated post offices nationwide will start taking mails or packages to be sent via FedEx, it said. After July 1, the service will be available at approximately 1,000 post offices nationwide, it said. Chunghwa Post said people need to pay for the delivery cost at the post office before they can drop off the package. Credit card payment will not be accepted. Aside from post offices, people can drop off their packages at Eslite Bookstores, Kodak stores, and FedEx’s own retail stores, it said.
■ POLITICS
Chinese delegation arrives
A 2,000-strong delegation from Fujian Province led by governor Huang Xiaojing (黃小晶) arrived in Taipei yesterday for a six-day visit. The delegation — one of the biggest from any Chinese province or city — is also expected to visit Tainan and Kaohsiung cities. No senior Chinese official has visited either of the two cities since vice chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Zhang Mingqing (張銘清) was involved in a scuffle with pro-independence protesters in Tainan in 2008, media reports said. The delegation will also visit the Industrial Technology Research Institute and several leading enterprises, including Formosa Plastics Group and AU Optronics Corp. At a welcoming party hosted by Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) in Taipei yesterday, Huang said he did not feel like a stranger at all in Taiwan, adding he hoped to see more Taiwanese visit Fujian.
■ POLITICS
KMT to nominate candidates
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said yesterday his party will complete the nomination of four candidates for the November special municipality elections on May 19, after a nomination screening committee meeting on Tuesday. The four candidates are Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) for Taipei City, Vice Premier Eric Chu (朱立倫) for Sinbei City, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) for Greater Taichung, and KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) for Greater Kaohsiung.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
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