TRAVEL
Warning issued for Trinidad
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a warning yesterday advising people to avoid traveling to Trinidad and Tobago, where tensions were rising after the government of the Caribbean nation declared a curfew in the wake of a surge in violent crime. A 15-day period of emergency rule was imposed on Aug. 21 in a bid to halt the surge in violent crime linked to the drug trade, the ministry said, adding the emergency rule was mainly to allow authorities to conduct search and seizure operations and make arrests. The ministry issued an “orange” warning, which is the second-highest on its four-color tourism advisory system. Orange means to avoid going to the destination and to be on high alert if there.
DIPLOMACY
Documentaries posted
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York has launched a Web site that provides 22 documentaries about Taiwan to help people better understand the country. The Web site, created by the office in cooperation with video Web site DramaFever, features documentaries on topics ranging from Taiwanese delicacies, culture, music, customs and festivals to the business scene, healthcare and learning Chinese. The documentaries, produced by the Government Information Office, aim to provide in-depth knowledge of Taiwan through the Internet and draw more visitors to the country for pleasure, business or to study. Each documentary is about 30 minutes long and can be viewed on DramaFever’s Web site at www.dramafever.com/taiwan. They include: Food from the Heavens — Taiwan’s Rice Culture, The Green Green Grass — the Story of Taiwan’s Fight Against SARS; Visions of Taiwan’s Mountains; Embrace Life — the Story of Taiwan Medicine and Tradition Meets Modernity — Energy for Taiwan Music.
CULTURE
‘Crosstalk’ icon honored
Renowned actor Wu Jau--nan (吳兆南) cried on Tuesday upon hearing that he was selected as one of the nation’s “Significant Traditional Arts Preservers” by the Council of Cultural Affairs. The honor is presented to those considered “human national treasures” for their dedication to the preservation of traditional arts. Wu was honored for his contributions and devotion to “crosstalk” (相聲) for 60 years. Crosstalk is a traditional Chinese comedic performance that usually takes the form of a dialogue between performers. Wu was overjoyed after hearing that he received the honor but also saddened to tears that his wife, who died two years ago, could not share his happiness. He said he would try to stay healthy and take every opportunity to be “used” to promote the art form.
CRIME
Customs brokers questioned
Prosecutors yesterday questioned five customs brokers who are suspected of bribing officials to help importers smuggle goods, after raids on their offices and homes. The Taipei District Public Prosecutors’ Office began its probe into the case last year after receiving tip-offs that customs officials were taking bribes from brokers to cover up the smuggling of banned goods, or to allow importers to pay lower tariffs by undervaluing their imports. Investigators have detained 10 officials from the Directorate General of Customs and the Keelung Customs Office they believe were involved in the scandal. The prosecutors launched the first round of raids and questioning in July, and detained several importers and customs officials, including Deputy Director-General of Customs Lu Tsai-yih (呂財益).
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park. The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month. However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese. “This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm earlier today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, in this year's Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am, the CWA said. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) with a 100km radius, it said. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA meteorologist Huang En-hung (黃恩宏) said. However, a more accurate forecast would be made on Wednesday, when Yinxing is
NEW DESTINATIONS: Marketing campaigns to attract foreign travelers have to change from the usual promotions about Alishan and Taroko Gorge, the transport minister said The number of international tourists visiting Taiwan is estimated to top 8 million by the end of this year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said yesterday, adding that the ministry has not changed its goal of attracting 10 million foreign travelers this year. Chen made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee to brief lawmakers about the ministry’s plan to boost foreign visitor arrivals. Last month, Chen told the committee that the nation might attract only 7.5 million tourists from overseas this year and that when the ministry sets next year’s goal, it would not include