CHARITY
Lottery winner donates
A lottery winner has donated NT$120 million (US$4 million) to charity groups around the country, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The NT$1.12 billion first prize was drawn in September and was the biggest lottery prize ever to go to a single winner in Taiwan. The winner was a housewife in her 30s from Taitung, said Taiwan Lottery chairman Steve Hsueh (薛香川). Charity groups in Taitung alone will receive donations totaling more than NT$30 million, he said. One of the charities, Star Home, which houses mentally challenged children, said the NT$20 million donation it received was its largest in recent years In addition, a red envelope containing NT$1.5 million was presented to the owner of the shop where the winning ticket was purchased. It is estimated that more than 56,000 underprivileged children and families in Taiwan will benefit from the donor’s generosity, Hsueh said.
MILITARY
Kinmen tunnel race thwarted
The military on Monday rejected a proposal to allow one of its defense installations on Kinmen to be used as a venue for foot race during next year’s Republic of China centennial celebration. The Kinmen County Government suggested transforming the Central Tunnel that runs through Mount Taiwu, the highest mountain on the former frontline island, into a temporary sports venue. The venue would showcase Kinmen’s transition from a military outpost to a tourist destination, Kinmen County Education Bureau Director Lee Tzai-hang (李再杭) said, adding that it would symbolize Kinmen’s emergence from the shadow of war into the light of peace. However, Kinmen Defense Command Officer Wu Fu-kuo (吳福國) said the tunnel, part of an underground tunnel network, was still a key military installation that was not open to the public.
AVIATION
China Postal to start flights
China Postal Airlines has obtained official permission to launch direct cargo flights to Taiwan, with the first set for next Tuesday from Fuzhou to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The Beijing-headquartered carrier is also planning to operate a Nanjing-Taoyuan route, according to Taiwan’s Chunghwa Post, which will consign some of the company’s cross-strait mail to the airline. China Postal Airlines was established in 1996 and is the first Chinese carrier dedicated to express mail and cargo transport services. The company is one of the five Chinese carriers designated by Beijing to operate cross-strait cargo services.
CULTURE
Hakka program premieres
The rich diversity of the nation’s Hakka culture will reach a broader audience in Asia when a travel program featuring Hakka festivals premieres on Sunday in the Asia-Pacific region, a global lifestyle channel announced yesterday. In collaboration with the Council for Hakka Affairs, the Travel and Living Channel (TLC) said at a press conference that it would add a new episode called “Hakka Festivals” to its Fun Taiwan series, in which four distinctive Hakka festivals will be introduced for the first time on the channel. Running for about an hour, the show will reach more than 133 million viewers in 20 countries around Asia, said Tommy Lin, senior vice president and general manager of North Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
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