THSRC cuts discount
The 4 percent discount on high-speed rail tickets offered during off-peak hours is to be cut by one hour from tomorrow, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said. The off-peak hours are from 9am to 12:35pm, and after 8pm to the end of service from Monday to Thursday. However, due to the large number of passengers in the morning, off-peak hours are to be adjusted to between 9:30am and 12pm, the company said. After 8pm is still considered off-peak under the new measure. According to THSRC’s schedule, fares on eight trains per day will be affected by the schedule change. The company said that the 10 percent to 35 percent discount on tickets purchased between five and 28 days prior to departure will not be affected by the new policy.
SOCIETY
Most naturalized by marriage
The majority of people who last year became naturalized Republic of China (ROC) citizens were spouses of Taiwanese citizens, with nearly 70 percent from Vietnam, government data released yesterday show. Last year, 3,252 people were naturalized, a decrease of 360, or 10 percent, from the year prior, the Ministry of the Interior said. The drop reflected a decline beginning in 2005 in the number of international marriages, the ministry said. It is believed that as the economies of Southeast Asia and China continue to grow, fewer women from those countries choose to leave their home to marry abroad, including to Taiwanese men. A total of 93.8 percent of last year’s naturalized citizens were women, 90.7 percent were married to Taiwanese, and 68.5 percent were from Vietnam, the ministry said. Meanwhile, 623 Taiwanese gave up their citizenship, with 94.7 percent doing so voluntarily, the ministry said.
AVIATION
Alcohol tests made mandatory
As of early June, every pilot working for a Taiwanese airline is to be given a blood alcohol test before flying, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said on Friday. The new regulation is to affect more than 2,800 pilots, including those in general civil aviation transport, common aviation industries and at flying schools, the agency said. Local aviation companies perform alcohol tests on only about 30 percent of their pilots, the CAA said. Testing is to be expanded at the demand of the legislature after two Taiwanese carriers — Far Eastern Air Transport and China Airlines — reported pilots who had a higher alcohol concentration level than the legal limit during random checks, the CAA said. Although such cases are rare, the CAA said it would not tolerate any breaches and is adopting the regulation to proactively prevent pilots from flying under the influence of alcohol.
MEDIA
Hakka Radio to air in June
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday said that Hakka Radio would be launched in June, describing it as a “major step” to propagate and spread the language. During an appearance at Hsinchu County’s Tung Blossom Festival, Tsai said Hakka is a national language and it needs to be more widely used. Hakka Radio is to be launched by the Hakka Affairs Council, the president said, adding that in conjunction with Hakka television and radio, it is a “major step” toward ethnic transitional justice. The radio station is to broadcast nationwide and its purpose is to promote Hakka language and culture and foster ethnic groups’ access to media and give them a voice in cultural development, the council said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about