In celebration of its 125th anniversary, Chunghwa Post is issuing a limited series of Hello Kitty-themed products to go on sale today.
Only 888 sets are to be sold: 288 of a new regular issued set and 600 of the 125th anniversary edition set, for NT$1,196 and NT$1,496 respectively, the postal operator said.
Included in the previously issued set are two plushies — one of a letter carrier with a hat and bag, and another writing a letter — as well as four toy vehicles, it said.
Photo courtesy of Chunghwa Post Co
The set includes four toy vehicles, two mail trucks and two mail vans, one of each with white license plates and the others with special-edition gold plates, it added.
The 125th anniversary set comes with all of these items, plus a stamp folder and a bag, it said, adding that sales are limited to two sets per person.
The plushies and the toy vehicle with the white license plates can also be purchased individually for NT$199 and NT$399 respectively, Chunghwa Post said.
Photo courtesy of EasyCard Corp
The two limited-edition sets are to go on sale at 8:30am today exclusively on the operator’s online Postal Stamps Mall, while the plushies and the toy vehicle can be purchased at any post office, the Postal Museum in Taipei or online, it said.
This is the third time the postal operator has offered products featuring the popular Sanrio character to enthusiastic response.
In December last year, lines began forming outside the Taipei Beimen Post Office before 6am to buy the last of the sets on offer.
However, the post office is not the only public service to get a cartoon makeover today.
Adding to the firm’s previous experiments with dolls and beer bottles, EasyCard is now offering another creative way to swipe when entering train stations or making purchases.
The chip in this new “card” is hidden in a cartoon figure atop a retractable wand, EasyCard said.
As many of its other products featuring cartoon characters have proven popular, the company said that it chose Usagi, a pink rabbit by Japanese illustrator Kanahei, for the new “card.”
The wand can be extended 30cm to make it easier for drivers to reach card sensors at parking lots, it said.
They are to be sold for NT$399 each from 11am today to 23:59pm on Thursday next week through the online retailer Momo.com, EasyCard said.
Purchases must be made with an EasyCard and are limited to two per person, it added.
Additional reporting by Tsai Ssu-pei
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan