TRANSPORT
TRA unveils new lunchbox
The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday introduced “Baby Tree” boxed meals, a new lunchbox oriented at passengers who are vegetarians. The railway operator said the new boxed meals are scheduled to go on sale at Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung railway stations, as well as Wuri (烏日) Station in Taichung, at 12pm tomorrow, when the nation observes Tree Planting Day. Each station will sell only 100 of the vegetarian lunchboxes, it added. Different from vegetarian lunchboxes the TRA has sold in the past, the Baby Tree lunchbox features more vegetables, such as apricot abalone mushrooms, ginkgos and small tomatoes, as well as kumquats. People who buy two Baby Tree lunchboxes will receive a Baby Tree coin bank, the TRA said.
NATURE
Video shows buzzard feast
The Taipei Zoo on Monday released a video of crested honey buzzards feasting on a hornet hive at the zoo. The video first shows an intact 1m-long hive, hanging from a tree in the zoo, which keepers said had been there since last year. Then a buzzard pecks at pupae and eggs from the hive, with the interior exposed after several buzzards attacked the hive, leaving a large hole. The zoo said the buzzards did not attack the hive until early last month. One buzzard was caught on video eating from the hive with his body upside-down. The zoo said it was the first time it has captured the rare birds feasting on a hornet hive on its premises. To counter the hornets’ defenses, the buzzards attacked as a group, taking turns assaulting the hive or creating a diversion so that other birds could attack. Researchers said the birds used to pass through Taiwan each year with other migratory birds of prey.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
RSS