SOCIETY
Drug use declining: MOE
A total of 0.46 percent of students aged 11 and up have tried illegal drugs, evidence of a long-term decline in drug use among young people, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said yesterday. A survey released yesterday showed that last year was the fourth consecutive year that self-reported drug use among young people dropped — from 0.67 in 2015 to 0.65 percent in 2016 and 0.47 percent in 2017, the ministry said. The survey was conducted by National Yang Ming University from October 2018 to last month and 119,426 children, teens and young adults responded anonymously to an online questionnaire. The respondents were randomly selected fifth and sixth graders in elementary schools, junior and senior-high school students and college and university students, the ministry said. The survey only shows the percentage of students who have tried illegal drugs, not the frequency of drug use. The continuing decline indicates the government’s anti-drug campaigns are proving effective, the ministry said. Parents need to pay close attention to the behavior of their children and educate them about the dangers of drug use, it said.
TOURISM
Foreign visitor numbers rise
Foreigners made 6.96 million visits to Taiwan from January to last month, up 12.85 percent from the same period last year, the Tourism Bureau said on Monday. That is an increase of 793,070 visits compared with the same period last year, the bureau said. The number of Chinese visitors increased 29.95 percent or 460,852 visits, while South Koreans were up 10.11 percent, Japanese 8.81 percent and those from Hong Kong and Macau 7.38 percent. Visitors from the 18 nations covered by the New Southbound Policy made 59,183 more visits, a 4.28 percent increase compared with last year, the bureau said.
DIPLOMACY
Tsai meets US governor
The government is to send an agricultural delegation to Mississippi next month to enhance relations with the US state, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday as she met Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant in Taipei. Taiwan and Mississippi have maintained close relations since 1983, she said. Bilateral trade surpassed US$400 million last year, making Taiwan Mississippi’s 10th-largest trading partner in Asia, she said. Bryant was in Taipei on a two-day visit that began on Monday as the head of trade delegation, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said.
TRAVEL
Vietjet opens Da Nang route
Vietnamese budget carrier Vietjet Air yesterday announced that it would begin operating regular flights between Taiwan and the coastal city of Da Nang on Dec. 19. Given Vietnam’s increasing popularity among Taiwanese tourists, the new route is part of the company’s plan to expand Vietjet’s network, the airline said. Vietjet would operate daily flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Da Nang using its new Airbus A320/A321 aircraft, it said. VietJet Air operates more than 50 round-trip flights on seven routes connecting Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung with Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Far Eastern Air Transport has been operating charter flights between Da Nang and Taoyuan since July last year, and between Da Nang and Kaohsiung since October. EVA Airways has also announced plans to begin daily flights between Taoyuan and Da Nang on Dec. 21.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
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