NATIONAL DEFENSE
Chinese aircraft spotted
A Chinese military aircraft was spotted entering Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone yesterday morning, the ninth time this month that such aircraft have been seen near the nation, the Ministry of National Defense said. Ministry spokesman Major General Shih Shun-wen (史順文) said the aircraft briefly entered the zone, prompting Taiwanese patrol aircraft to respond with radio warnings until it left. The movement by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army came after three US military aircraft flew over the Bashi Channel toward the South China Sea that same day. China’s South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative posted on Twitter that the US aircraft came in three separate intervals, consisting of an EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft, a P-8A maritime patrol aircraft and an aerial refueling KC-135T.
SOCIETY
Ximen plaza bans smoking
The plaza outside Taipei’s Ximen MRT Station is to become a nonsmoking area on Wednesday next week, but the city would not issue fines until August, the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection said. Throughout next month, it would warn smokers, and in August it would fine them NT$2,000 to NT$10,000, the department said. People who dispose of cigarette butts on the ground would face fines from NT$1,200 to NT$6,000, it said. The plaza, which covers the area west of the Ximen station between exits 1 and 6, is a gateway to one of the city’s most popular shopping and entertainment areas. Environmental Cleaning and Maintenance Division head head Huang Kuan-chu (黃寬助) said the area is a big draw for young people and foreign tourists, and the city is banning smoking there to improve the overall environment for visitors. The city also plans to ban smoking in areas around Taipei Main Station and the Taipei Travel Plaza next year, he added.
EDUCATION
Ministry approves merger
The Ministry of Education has approved a planned merger of National Yang-Ming University (NYMU) and National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), NCTU said on Wednesday. Pending the Executive Yuan’s approval, the research universities are to become one institution on Feb. 1 next year, it said. The universities plan to integrate their research resources in areas such as biotech, smart medicine, artificial intelligence, robotics and big data. NCTU last year ranked 227th and NYMU 287th in the QS World University Rankings. After the merger, NYCU is expected to rank about 156th, the document said. The universities in 2018 initiated the merger, and in March last year signed a memorandum of understanding.
TRAVEL
UNI increases festival flights
UNI Air on Wednesday announced that it would increase its flights between Taipei and Taitung for the county’s 10th hot air balloon festival, which starts next month. The Taitung County Government has held the Taiwan International Balloon Festival annually since 2011 at the Luye Highland. The festival takes place from July 11 to Aug. 30, the county said. To meet the demand, UNI Air, which normally flies 70-seat ATR 72 aircraft on its Taitung routes, said it would add an additional eight flights per week throughout the festival, and would use a larger 184-seat Airbus A321 jet on one of its flights on Fridays and one on Sundays. This means that the airline would be offering nearly 10,000 more seats during the two-month period compared with previous years, it said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
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