TRAVEL
Electronic visas launched
An electronic visa application system was launched yesterday that is to be available to citizens of 27 countries during the first stage of the system’s implementation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The facility is aimed at promoting tourism by streamlining visa application procedures, the ministry said. In the first stage, travelers from the designated countries would only be allowed to apply for electronic visas for the purposes of business travel, tourism, short visits to relatives and participation in international conferences, it said. The 27 nations include Turkey, Macedonia and Brunei and 21 of Taiwan’s 22 diplomatic allies (excluding the Holy See), the ministry said, adding that the other three countries on the list are Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, which offer Taiwan visa-waiver treatment.
SOCIETY
Taoyuan touts festival
A national lantern competition being held as part of this year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival has drawn more than 800 entries, according to the Taoyuan City Government. The festival is to take place in the plaza in front of Taoyuan high-speed railway station from Feb. 22 to March 6. Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said this would be the first time in its 27-year history that the Taiwan Lantern Festival is to take place in Taoyuan. He said the festival would feature six main areas: the Smart Technology Lantern Area, the Fairytale Kingdom Lantern Area, the Taoyuan Story Lantern Corridor, the Diverse Exchange Lantern Area, the New Peach Blossom Spring Lantern Area and the Religious Prayer Lantern Area. The festival is traditionally held around the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, or 14 days after the Lunar New Year.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
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