ENVIRONMENT
City to charge for utensils
The Taipei City Government is to begin charging take-out customers for disposable utensils and containers at 66 city-operated facilities, starting with Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital yesterday, the Department of Environmental Protection said yesterday. Lin Yutang House, Grass Mountain Chateau and food stalls operating in the No. 3 Area of the Taipei Arena MRT Station are to follow suit by the end of the year, while other outlets will adopt the rule by July 5 next year, the department said. The charges are NT$2 for a meal container and NT$1 each for a bowl, a pair of chopsticks or a spoon, it said. The measure is expected to reduce the number of single-use disposable utensils annually by up to 5 million, it added.
SOCIETY
MRT flower shops open
With flower exports declining 20 to 30 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government is working with Taipei Metro to operate a series of flower shops inside MRT stations to sell locally produced blooms. The second of the stores had its official opening on Wednesday at the Songjiang Nanjing Station following a two-month trial run during which it averaged sales of NT$4,000 to NT$5,000 per day, and hit a daily high of NT$12,000, said Evelyn Lu (呂瀅瀅), chairwoman of Taipei Flower Auction, which buys the flowers from local growers and sells them through the stores. Ghost Month, which started this year on Wednesday, generally gives a boost to flower sales, as many people purchase them to appease the spirits, Lu said. Sales are also expected to surge in the runup to Qixi Festival, which falls on Tuesday next week. The metro flower shops sell everything from orchids to roses, balloon flowers and lilies. The first store opened at Zhongshan MRT Station on July 25.
DIPLOMACY
AIT names Kaohsiung head
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on Wednesday named Mason Yu (禹道瑞) as the head of its Kaohsiung branch, saying he had taken office following the departure of his predecessor. Yu, a former deputy chief at the branch office, replaced Matthew O’Connor, who recently completed his three-year tenure and has left Taiwan. Yu joined the US Department of State in 2001 and most recently served as special assistant to the assistant secretary of the Bureau of Administration, an AIT news release said. He has also served in several posts overseas, including in Singapore, Saudi Arabia and China, the AIT said. A native of Seattle, Washington, Yu graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Mass Communications and earned a Master of Military Studies from the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College, it said.
CULTURE
Movie funding pulls NT$24m
A crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to produce a movie series based on Taiwan’s history has raised more than NT$24 million (US$813,229) from more than 6,000 people, according to the campaign’s Web site. The first phase of the campaign, which runs until Oct. 10, is aimed at raising NT$100 million. Taiwanese filmmaker Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖), who directed the popular two-part epic film Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (彩虹戰士:賽德克巴萊), based on the 1930 Wushe Incident in central Taiwan, aims to release a trilogy — Siraya, Teyouan and Formosa in 2024, 2025 and 2026 respectively. More information on the film series can be found at the Taiwan Trilogy Film Fundraising Project-Phase 1 Web site.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
NO SHAME IN RETREAT: Hikers should consider turning back if the weather turns bad or if they do not have sufficient equipment, the Taroko park headquarters said Two people died of hypothermia over the weekend while hiking on Hsuehshan (雪山), prompting park authorities to remind hikers to bring proper equipment and consider their physical condition before setting out in the cold weather. Temperatures dropped over the weekend, bringing snow to high altitudes in Shei-pa National Park. One hiker, surnamed Lin (林), who on Friday was traveling with a group of six along the Hsuehshan west ridge trail, lost consciousness due to hypothermia and died, the Shei-pa National Park Headquarters said. On Saturday, another hiker, surnamed Tien (田), in a group of five on the southeast of the west
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