TOURISM
Medical visa considered
Chinese nationals may soon be allowed to visit the country exclusively for medical services rather than under a tourist itinerary, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday. Under the new regulation, Chinese nationals would be able to cite health checkups and medical cosmetology services as the purpose of travel when applying for an entry permit for Taiwan. Existing regulations only allow Chinese visitors to receive such services after they enter the country, either with tour groups or under the free independent traveler program, according to the agency. NIA -Director-General Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) said the new policy would bring more people to Taiwan for medical services — which he called part of Taiwan’s soft power — and would boost the business of the local medical sector.
SPORT
Taekwondo star not acting
Taekwondo star Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) will not try her hand at acting in South Korea because she is training hard for next year’s Olympic Games in London, the athlete’s manager, Yang Shu-chuan (楊淑娟), said yesterday. The manager was responding to a report in the Chinese-language China Times yesterday that said the athlete had been approached by a South Korean producer and asked to appear in a soap opera with members of South Korean boy band Dong Bang Shin Ki. The report said the athlete’s good looks had been noticed in South Korea after she was disqualified in a controversial ruling in the taekwondo competition at last year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. According to Yang Shu-chuan, the taekwondo star had been approached by a South Korean agency to appear in a production, but the offer was rejected because she currently had no intention or time to star in any films.
TRAVEL
Bangkok advisory still red
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said the travel warning for flood-stricken Bangkok and 28 surrounding regions remained red because of the ongoing flood crisis. A red travel warning is the highest in the ministry’s four-color travel advisory system. Concerned about outbreaks of disease, polluted water supplies and the possible breakdown of barriers protecting Bangkok, the ministry advised Taiwanese not to travel to the city or surrounding areas. According to the ministry, downtown Bangkok escaped serious damage when the flood peaked on Oct. 29 and during a spring high tide on Monday. However, seven districts in northern and western Bangkok suffered from serious flooding, the ministry said. In addition, water supplies polluted by floodwater are threatening the public’s health and water rationing has been implemented in several provinces, the ministry added.
TOURISM
Tourism sector recovering
About 460,000 foreign tourists visited Taiwan in September, setting a record high for that month, the Tourism Bureau said. The figure, which was up 9.9 percent from a year earlier, is a sign that the local tourism sector is recovering after a series of incidents earlier this year led to unfavorable market conditions, the bureau said. The incidents included a train derailment on the -Alishan forest railway in April that killed six Chinese tourists and a food scare after plasticizers were detected in some consumables in May. The bureau said Japanese visitors topped the visitor list with 122,908 tourists, a 33.9 percent increase over the same period last year and a single-month all-time high.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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