FISHERIES
Job screening tightened
The government has imposed stricter measures on the employment of foreign workers on Taiwanese fishing boats by requiring all applicants to present a clean criminal record certificate, Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Tsay Tzu-yaw (蔡日曜) announced on Tuesday. The measure, which takes effect three days after the announcement, is to be implemented as part of efforts to prevent crime on the high seas, said Tsay, who also suggested that ship owners hire workers from more than one country to lower the risk of foreign workers joining forces against their Taiwanese bosses. Under the new measure, foreigners applying for jobs on Taiwanese fishing vessels must present a clean criminal record certificate verified by the Taiwanese representative offices in their countries. The move was in response to the alleged July 16 murder of the Taiwanese skipper and chief engineer of a deep-ocean fishing boat registered in Suao (蘇澳), Yilan County, by its nine Indonesian crewmen.
CULTURE
Students to perform in Africa
Students from the Taipei National University of the Arts will give a variety of performances in Africa during their trip to Burkina Faso and Sao Tome and Principe next month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Invited by the ministry to promote bilateral cultural exchanges, the 12 students, accompanied by their professor, will depart for Sao Tome and Principe on Sept. 4, the ministry said. During their two-week trip to the two countries, the students will give percussion performances, sing Taiwanese folk songs and perform a traditional martial arts drama and modern dances, the ministry said. David Wang (王建業), director-general of the ministry’s Department of West Asian and African Affairs, will lead the group on the trip.
AGRICULTURE
Bi-color sweet corn unveiled
The Council of Agriculture on Tuesday unveiled its first bi-color sweet corn that can be grown in Taiwan’s baking-hot summer, with the aim of boosting farmers’ revenues by two to three times. Developed by the council’s research station for eight years, the No. 27 yellow-white sweet corn is more heat-resistant than other bi-color breeds favored in Taiwan — mostly foreign breeds that can only be planted in fall or winter, the council said. A trial of the No. 27 sweet corn began in June on two farms in Yunlin County, and the new breed can be priced as high as NT$17 per kilogram, compared with NT$6 to NT$8 for other local breeds of yellow sweet corn, the council said. The new breed’s higher price is attributed mainly to the fact that it is sweeter than yellow sweet corn. The council said small-scale mass production is scheduled for next year.
SOCIETY
Grandrider tour planned
An annual bike tour for elderly motorcyclists, affectionately dubbed “Grandriders,” will include more international participants this year, organizers said yesterday. Twenty motorcyclists from abroad will join 40 local riders on a four-day trip from Sept. 28, seeking to convey the message that one is never too old to do anything, the Hondao Senior Citizen’s Welfare Foundation said. Last year, 10 motorcyclists from the US were the first international participants to join the event, riding around the nation for a week. Although this year’s program is shorter, it has become more international, with seniors from the US, Europe and Asia expected to participate in a 350km ride from southern to central Taiwan, the foundation said.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
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