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.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
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