TRAVEL
S Korea extends free entry
South Korea is to extend a temporary visa-free entry program for visitors from Taiwan, Japan and Macau to Oct. 31, in hopes of attracting more tourists to a series of cultural events, local media reported yesterday. Originally scheduled to run from Aug. 4 to yesterday, the program led to a 97 percent sequential increase in the number of visitors from Taiwan, Japan and other countries last month, the Korean Broadcasting System reported, citing an official statement issued by the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. South Korea introduced the program ahead of this year’s Seoul Festa, which was held in the capital from Aug. 10 to 14, bringing the number of countries qualifying for visa-free entry this month to 107. The government decided to extend the measure in response to appeals from local governments and the tourism industry to boost international visitors to events scheduled for this and next month, including a BTS concert in Busan and other cultural events in Seoul, the report said.
WEATHER
Super typhoon brings rain
Parts of the nation were forecast to feel the effects of the periphery of Super Typhoon Hinnamnor from late yesterday to Saturday, but the storm is unlikely to directly impact the nation, the Central Weather Bureau said. The typhoon was expected to continue moving westward toward waters south of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands yesterday and linger there before veering northward toward Japan’s main islands and South Korea, the bureau said. However, a new tropical depression south of Hinnamnor is expected to develop into a tropical storm and move toward the typhoon, and the interaction between the two storms could cause Hinnamnor to veer south, it said. The bureau forecast that the storm would come closest to Taiwan tomorrow and on Saturday, as it lingers near the Ryukyu Islands.
CULTURE
Cloud Gate to hold free show
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is to hold a free, open-air performance of 13 Tongues (十三聲) in front of Hsinchu City Hall on Saturday. The show, which starts at 7:30pm, is the sixth and final performance to be held as part of the city’s Summer Art Cultural Festival, Acting Hsinchu Mayor Chen Chang-hsian (陳章賢) said in a statement yesterday. 13 Tongues, which premiered in 2016, was created by Cloud Gate artistic director Cheng Tsun-lung (鄭宗龍) based on his childhood memories of the bustling street life in Taipei. Because rain from the outer bands of Typhoon Hinnamnor is forecast for Saturday, people planning to attend the event should check the Hsinchu City Cultural Affairs Bureau Web site to confirm whether the show would be held as scheduled.
ENVIRONMENT
Hair drive to clean oil spills
A non-profit group is launching a drive to collect hair trimmings and tights for use as sorbents in the event of an oil spill, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tang Hui-jane (湯蕙禎) said yesterday, urging hair salons and tights manufacturers to join the drive. Tang said studies have shown that 1kg of human hair can absorb 8kg of oil. The collection drive is being launched today, ahead of World Cleanup Day on Sept. 17, which was started by Estonians to tackle the waste problem and create a more sustainable environment, DPP Legislator Lai Pin-yu (賴品妤) said. An art exhibition is also to be held at Taipei Xin Zhong Shan Park from Sept. 29 to Oct. 10 to showcase art works made from discarded hair, she said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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