TRANSPORT
NY sends birthday wishes
New York City’s subway operator has made a video wishing the Taipei MRT System a happy birthday, as this month marks the 20th anniversary of the Taipei metro. Available on YouTube, the video was made by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and joins other metro systems around the world in celebrating the anniversary. The first line of the Taipei system, which now has five lines, began operations on March 28, 1996. It was Taiwan’s first metro system. The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp, which operates the system, is organizing a series of events to celebrate the anniversary.
WEATHER
No sunshine on the horizon
Taiwan’s weather forecast remains cool and wet for the coming week due to the strengthening of a northeast monsoon weather front, a meteorologist said yesterday. In particular, heavy rain is expected from today until Tuesday as a result of increased moisture, National Central University Department of Atmospheric Sciences professor Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said. The Central Weather Bureau yesterday issued a heavy rain warning for Hsinchu City and Taichung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Nantou and Hualien counties. The bureau also issued a poor visibility warning for western areas and the outlying islands of Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu due to fog and low clouds. As of yesterday morning, seven passenger flights scheduled to depart from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were delayed due to fog, Taiwan Taoyuan Airport Co said.
BASEBALL
Taiwan ranks third in world
Taiwan has achieved a new high in terms of its baseball power, ranking the world’s third-highest in points, behind only Japan and the US, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) said on Friday. The WBSC said Taiwan scored a record-high 4,702 points in its Baseball World Ranking, moving a notch ahead of its previous ranking and pushing Cuba, which had 3,727 points, to fifth place. Japan holds the world’s No. 1 spot with 5,154 points, followed by the US at 5,091 points. The number of points is calculated by the number of games in which each nation’s team scores in competitions worldwide. South Korea also secured a record-high place on the WBSC ranking, coming in fourth with 4,641 points, up from eighth place, thanks to its final victory in last year’s WSBC Premier 12.
ENTERTAINMENT
K-pop star arrives home
Taiwanese K-pop star Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜) arrived at Kaohsiung International Airport from South Korea yesterday. Local media reported that she is to take a junior-high school scholastic aptitude test today. Born in Tainan, the 16-year-old is a member of South Korean girl group Twice, which debuted in October last year. She moved to South Korea in her second year of junior-high school to train with South Korean firm JYP Entertainment. Chou only has an elementary-school-level education, local media said, adding that by passing the test she would have the required academic credentials to continue her schooling in South Korea. In January, she became ensnared in controversy after China-based Taiwanese singer Huang An (黃安) accused her of supporting Taiwanese independence. Huang’s comments spurred Chinese netizens to attack Chou, resulting in her issuing an apology, saying “there is only one China... I have always felt proud of being Chinese.” The incident infuriated many Taiwanese, who accused JYP of forcing Chou to issue the apology.
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights