ARTS
Teen to perform with NSO
A 16-year-old local violinist, Tseng Yu-chien (曾宇謙), will perform with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in two concerts at the National Concert Hall in Taipei tomorrow and on Saturday. Tseng is a student of the Curtis Institute of Music in the US, where he studies under musician Ida Kavafian. The young violinist was the winner of the 10th Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition last year and took third prize in the junior section of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in 2006. He also played a major role in a locally produced movie in August. Tseng yesterday said he was very excited about the two concerts because he would be performing under the baton of NSO resident maestro Lu Shao-chia (呂紹嘉) for the first time.
AVIATION
Nation’s accident rate falling
Taiwan’s air accident rate has been falling in recent years and if the trend continues, will drop to the global average level within three years, an aviation safety official said on Tuesday. Chang Yu-hern (張有恆), chairman of the Council for Aviation Safety, said there were four aviation accidents in Taiwan this year as the country’s 10-year record continues to fall. From 2000 to last year, Taiwan registered 1.82 air accidents per million take-offs, higher than the world average of 1.02, he said. “If the current rate can be maintained, by 2013, our record will have dropped to the world average level of 0.61,” he added. Council figures show that prior to 2008, Taiwan’s 10-year accident record was above two per million takeoffs. The decade of 1993 to 2002 saw the highest record of 3.52, followed by 2.82 for 1994 to 2003, 2.69 for 1998 to 2007 and 2.26 for 1999 to 2008. By 2001 to this year, the record had fallen to the same as 2000 to last year, according to the council.
CULTURE
Influential work named
The non-fiction work Seven Days in Heaven (父後七日) has been selected as one of the 10 most influential books in Taiwan this year by Kingstone Bookstore. The book, which in its manuscript form won first prize in the Lin Rung San Literary Awards in 2006, features a Taiwanese funeral ceremony, through which the author, Essay Liu (劉梓潔), tells how a -collectivist-dominated society can strongly bind an individual, Kingstone commented. Liu has also revised her book into a screenplay to show her experience of death and local funeral rites on the big screen. The film, which bears the same title as the book, made its debut in Taiwan in August and won this year’s Golden Horse Film Award last month for best screenplay adaptation.
ENVIRONMENT
Low-carbon plan ready: EPA
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday that it has come up with a national plan to create a low-carbon environment to fight global warming. The plan includes using clean energy, building a low-carbon economy and designing eco-friendly homes, the EPA said. Next year, every municipality will have two model green communities and the number of such communities will be increased gradually, said Lu Hung-kuang (呂鴻光), executive secretary of the eco-community project. The EPA proposes expanding the low-carbon plan throughout the entire country in three stages between next year and 2020, he said. Development of a low-carbon environment involves changes in areas such as energy conservation, architecture, transportation and environmental protection, which all form a challenging undertaking, Lu said. Taiwan has set a goal of reducing its carbon emissions to 2005 levels by 2020 and to 2000 levels by 2025.
DEFENSE
Volunteer duty set for 2015
Taiwan will introduce an all-volunteer military system in 2015, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. To pave the way for the new system, the ministry will begin a policy assessment process on Saturday that will be completed by the end of 2014, said Chao Ke-ta (趙克達), head of the Department of Manpower, during a hearing held by the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee. Asked whether a planned exchange of visits between China’s People’s Liberation Army and US military officials next month will affect US arms sales to Taiwan, Deputy Minister of National Defense Andrew Yang (楊念祖) said the ministry is “cautiously optimistic” about the sales and believes they will not be affected. According to Yang, high-ranking US officials have on many occasions told Beijing that the issue of arms sales to Taiwan does not fall within the scope of US-China exchanges. Washington will consider whether to sell certain weapons to Taiwan based on the defense needs of Taiwan and the West Pacific, Yang said.
TRANSPORTATION
MRT ridership passes 500m
The annual ridership of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system was expected to top 500 million passengers yesterday, marking a new chapter in Taiwan’s MRT services since the system’s inception in 1996, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said. As of Monday, the Taipei MRT system posted a ridership total of 498 million passengers this year, according to the TRTC, operator of the MRT. Expanding from one route in March 1996, the Taipei MRT system now encompasses 10 routes connecting many districts in the greater Taipei area, with 93 stations and a service length exceeding 100km.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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