EMPLOYMENT
New job openings increase
The number of new job openings last month was up more than 3 percent from the previous month, mainly driven by vacancies in the hospitality industry, the Council of Labor Affairs reported. About 130,400 new jobs were offered last month, up from 126,200 the previous month, the council said, citing data from government-run employment counseling agencies around the nation. The outcome was mainly driven by increases in the hospitality business, which added 3,679 jobs last month, followed by the wholesale and retail industry, which added 2,870 vacancies. The increase, which bucked a trend in which a decline had been recorded in September the previous three years, showed that the domestic job market is stable, despite economic uncertainties at home and abroad, the council said. Another industry that has seen increasing demand for workers in recent years is transportation and warehousing, the council added.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
More spies recruited
The military has increased its staff assigned to counterintelligence against China, since Beijing has not promised to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, Minister of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) said on Wednesday. China has never ceased its efforts to collect military intelligence on Taiwan, and the military in April boosted its number of counterintelligence agents, Yen said before reporting to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei. He was responding to local media reports that the military has reinstated an anti-Chinese intelligence unit after a 12-year hiatus in light of media reports that retired Taiwanese officers have been recruited by Chinese intelligence.
SOCIETY
Taipei’s ranking slips
Taipei has the eighth-best reputation among Asian cities this year, according to an international consulting firm, but saw its global ranking slip in the annual study. The only Taiwanese city to make the list, Taipei ranked 69th globally with a score of 56.5 points, a drop from last year’s 61.3 points and 54th place, on this year’s City RepTrak Study. The annual study was conducted by the New York and Copenhagen-based Reputation Institute. It ranked cities based on trust, esteem, admiration and respect, and perceptions of 13 attributes in the categories of advanced economy, appealing environment and effective government. Among Asian cities, Osaka in Japan was rated the most reputable, with a score of 71.4 points in 26th place.
ART
Rubber Duck inflated
The inflation of the giant Rubber Duck that wowed crowds in Greater Kaohsiung in the past month was completed yesterday in Taoyuan County after it was postponed by a day due to inclement weather, Taoyuan County Government officials said. County government workers said the inflation went smoothly after the strong winds had abated. They spent 45 minutes inflating the immense floating installation artwork. Unlike its earlier display at Kaohsiung Harbor, the world-famous giant bath toy will be ensconced in the unique pond-dotted landscape in the county’s Sinwu Township (新屋) as part of a landscape festival to be held between tomorrow and Nov. 10. As a result, people can expect a different kind of viewing experience as they will see the duck in the context of coastal bike rides, tourist farms, fresh seafood restaurants and sunsets over the Taiwan Strait, Taoyuan County Tourism Promotion Bureau officials said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
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