FISHERIES
EU inspection expected
A new round of evaluations on efforts to combat illegal fishing is expected in March, a spokesperson for the EU said on Thursday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Taiwan and the EU have always had a positive and constructive dialogue on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and it welcomes the nation’s efforts on the issue. EU inspectors would conduct an evaluation in March, the spokesperson said. The EU in October 2015 placed Taiwan on its “yellow card” watch list for insufficient cooperation in IUU fishing. Since then, EU officials have visited every six months to see how the issues are being addressed. The previous time they were here for an evaluation was in October last year, but no decision has been made by the EU to lift the warning imposed on Taiwan.
TOURISM
Wuling controls announced
Crowd controls would be implemented in the Wuling Farm (武陵農場) area in central Taiwan during the cherry blossom season from Feb. 7 to Feb. 27, the Directorate-General of Highways (DHG) said. The number of visitors allowed to enter the area in the period would be capped at 6,000 per day, with 1,800 being overnight visitors and 4,200 single-day visitors, the DHG said. The 4,200 day visitors would be limited to 1,000 in tour groups and 3,200 independent travelers using public transportation, it said. The farm said that its Taiwanese cherry trees at the farm have already started blooming, about one month earlier than last year, with about 70 percent already in full bloom. Other varieties at the farm include the oshima, yaezakura and wusheh, which account for more than 30,000 cherry trees in the area.
TOURISM
‘Guardian’ ranks Taiwan
British newspaper the Guardian listed Taiwan as one of its top 40 destinations worth visiting this year. The Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, which opened on Oct. 13 last year, features prominently in the article for Taiwan. The center is “just one reason to explore beyond the capital, Taipei,” the newspaper said. Formerly a military training base, the center spans 9.9 hectares and was designed by Francine Houben, founder of Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo. The newspaper also mentioned the Taiwan Lantern Festival, which is to be held from Feb. 19 to March 3 at Dapeng Bay (大鵬灣) in Pingtung County’s Donggang Township (東港) and two other locations.
TOURISM
Nation ranked 5th-friendliest
Taiwan was ranked the fifth-friendliest nation in the world for last year by customers of Booking.com — one of the world’s largest e-commerce travel companies. Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan, was chosen as the most friendly travel destination in the country, according to Booking.com, with Taiwanese travelers identifying the friendliness of a destination as an important element in deciding whether to visit. Australia, the Czech Republic, Poland and New Zealand were the top four countries on the list, while Romania, Hungary, Iceland, Serbia, and Greece completed the top 10, according to the Web site, which on Tuesday released the ranking as part of its Guest Review Awards. Last year, 759,845 travel accommodation providers in 219 nations and areas received a Guest Review Award based on guest comments. Italy retained the top spot with 106,513 lodgings winning awards, while Taiwan was ranked 33rd, up three places from 2017.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
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