HEALTH
Air quality to remain poor
Air quality is likely to remain poor throughout the four-day New Year holiday, as a cold air mass from China blankets the nation, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday. Greater Kaohsiung and Pingtung County are set to have the worst air quality, with PM2.5 levels reaching 9 on the 10-point scale today, the EPA said. PM2.5 levels measure the concentration of harmful fine particules in the air that are 2.5 microns or less in width. Also today, Yunlin and Chiayi counties and Greater Tainan can expect a PM2.5 level of 8, but it will drop tomorrow to 7, which is still considered fairly high, the EPA said. Areas of central Taiwan could also experience a particle pollution level of 7, the EPA said. The poor air quality in those areas will prevail until Sunday, the EPA said, advising elderly people and those with chest, heart or allergy problems to avoid outdoor activities. People with asthma might also need to use their inhalers more often during the period of high air pollution, the EPA said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Man punches J.J. Lin
Singaporean singer and songwriter J.J. Lin (林俊傑) was punched by a man at an autograph signing event in Taipei yesterday, but did not appear to have suffered a serious injury. Police are investigating possible motives for the attack. Lin, 33, was signing autographs while promoting his new album, Genesis, in the Ximending (西門町) shopping district when a man who appeared to be in his early 30s rushed onto the stage and took a swing at the singer, according to witnesses and an initial report by police from the Wanhua District (萬華) precinct. Lin went to National Taiwan University Hospital in an ambulance and left the emergency room shortly after arriving. The man suspected of assaulting the star was taken to a police station for questioning.
TOURISM
Arrivals hit 9.9 million
The nation saw growth in tourism from several markets last year, which culminated in a 8.9 percent annual increase in total visitor arrivals, according to official figures. The year-end data showed that just over 9.9 million visitors arrived in Taiwan last year, compared with slightly more than 8 million in 2013. The biggest increase was in the number of arrivals from South Korea, New Zealand, Australia and Europe, Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Wayne Liu (劉喜臨) said. Visitor arrivals from South Korea increased last year by an annual 55.5 percent to nearly 500,000, Liu said. In the first 11 months of last year, there were more than 1 million visitor arrivals from each of four Asian markets — China, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau — according to the bureau’s data. The breakdown showed that 3.64 million visitors were from China in the 11-month period, a year-on-year growth of 38.2 percent. The number of Japanese visitors in the period grew 16.04 percent year-on-year to about 1.5 million, and from Hong Kong and Macau numbers rose 16.94 percent to 1.24 million.
AIRPORTS
Passenger volumes rise
More than 35 million travelers came through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport last year, a growth rate of 11.4 percent over the year. The passenger volume was the highest the airport has ever recorded, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co said on Wednesday. The company touted the achievement as the result of efforts to improve facilities and services, saying it has pursued growth in passenger volume, facility upgrades, runway renovation and work on a third terminal.
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
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
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
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
RSS