TRAVEL
Germany warning issued
Taiwanese visiting Germany have been advised to be on the alert against potential terrorist attacks around the end of the month, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday. The travel warning was issued after German Minister of the Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Wednesday that his ministry had obtained concrete evidence that terrorists were planning to launch attacks in Germany by the end of the month, MOFA spokesman James Chang (章計平) said. For now, the travel alert for Germany will remain gray, the lowest level in the MOFA’s four-color system, Chang said. However, Taiwanese visitors to Germany should take extra safety precautions, he said. German officials said the terror warning was serious enough for them to “expect an attack at any time.”
DIPLOMACY
US ambassador to visit
Luis CdeBaca, ambassador-at-large of the US Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, is scheduled to visit Taiwan tomorrow for a four-day visit, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a press release yesterday. The ambassador will meet with government officials and local non-governmental organizations to exchange views on working together to end human trafficking, the AIT said. Taiwan was listed in “Tier 1” — the highest level — in this year’s Trafficking in Persons Report, which was published by the US Department of State in June, because of Taiwan’s full compliance with the minimum standard for the elimination of trafficking. CdeBaca was appointed by US President Barack Obama in May last year to coordinate US government activities in the global fight against contemporary forms of slavery. AIT Chairman Raymond Burghardt, meanwhile, is also scheduled to visit Taiwan and deliver a speech soon after the Nov. 27 special municipality elections, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.
ARTS
Taipei County festival opens
Arts lovers are expected to pack into the Left Bank Arts Festival to see a wide range of performances and activities in the next few days after the annual event opened in Taipei County yesterday. Hosted by the Shihsanhang Archeological Museum, the festival this year invited groups of artists to create works that are related to the Tamsui River. Lin Hsiu-wei (林秀偉), producer for the Contemporary Legend Theater, and famous opera diva Wei Hai-min (魏海敏) are jointly presenting work at the festival. In addition to lively dance and theater performances, participants can learn first-hand about traditional Taiwanese craftsmanship from bronze sculptor Wu Tsung-lin (吳宗霖), tree carver Lee Yung-mou (李永謀) and Hakka blue-dye artist Hsieh Pei-hua (謝佩華). The Left Bank Arts Festival runs at three separate venues until Nov. 28.
SOCIETY
iPhone addiction rising
Apple’s iPhone series is giving rise to an “iPhone addiction,” said Yang Tsung-tsai (楊聰財), a psychiatrist at Cardinal Tien Hospital in Sindian (新店), Taipei County. Yang said one of his patients, a high school student, couldn’t take his eyes off his phone, surfing the Internet in class and staying up late to play with his phone and missing classes as a result. Another psychiatrist, Lee Kuang-hui (李光輝), said iPhone addiction seemed to have eclipsed computer addiction. Yang said those who spend all their time online probably have a latent emotional disorder or even depression and should seek medical treatment.
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
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