TRAVEL
Hanoi flights to start
Taipei-based StarLux Airlines is to start flights to Hanoi on Jan. 13, as the nation and Vietnam ease border controls, it said yesterday. StarLux will fly between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the Vietnamese capital once a day using the single-aisle Airbus A321neo, the airline said in a statement, adding that its target market would be Taiwanese businesspeople and tourists. The daily flight is to fly from Taoyuan at 9:25am and land in Hanoi at 11:40am, and then depart from Hanoi at 12:55pm and arrive in Taiwan at 4:35pm, the carrier said. The new route would make travel to Vietnam more convenient, as the airline already provides flights to Da Nang in central Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in the south, the statement said. StarLux — which has a fleet of 11 A321neo, four A330neo and one A350-900 aircraft — is also to launch flights to the Philippine city of Cebu on Jan. 17, bringing the total number of destinations it serves to 15, all of them in Asia.
SPORTS
Howard out for two weeks
Taoyuan Leopards’ newly recruited eight-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard is likely to be out of action for two weeks after he felt some knee discomfort during a home game on Sunday, the T1 League pro basketball club said on Monday. Howard felt his left knee act up after a teammate ran into his leg in the first half of a 103-94 home loss to the Taichung Suns at National Taiwan Sport University’s multipurpose arena in Taoyuan. After doctors examined the knee on Monday morning, they said he did not have a major injury, but suggested that Howard rest for two weeks and return to action after fully recovering, the Leopards said in a statement. Howard thanked Chang Gung Memorial Hospital for their efforts and instructions for follow-up treatment, the Leopards said. Howard also visited a traditional Chinese medicine clinic for a second opinion, the Leopards said. The former NBA all-star will probably miss the Leopards’ next two games — against the Suns on the road on Sunday and against the defending champion Kaohsiung Aquas, also on the road, on Dec. 4. If the doctors’ timetable holds, Howard would be back for his team’s following game, at home against the Tainan TSG GhostHawks on Dec. 16.
FOOD
Ginseng shipment seized
A shipment of fresh ginseng from South Korea was recently seized at the border, after being found to contain seven types of pesticides, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. The 325kg of ginseng was confiscated after sample testing on Oct. 18 detected 0.05 parts per million (ppm) of boscalid, as well as varying levels of fluopicolide, propamocarb hydrochloride, pyraclostrobin, fluazinam, penthiopyrad and tebuconazole ranging from 0.02ppm and 0.07ppm, the FDA said. The five detected levels of pesticides — boscalid, fluopicolide, propamocarb hydrochloride, pyraclostrobin and tebuconazole — all exceeded the allowable limit of 0.01ppm, FDA official Chen Ching-yu (陳慶裕) said. Fluazinam and penthiopyrad are banned for use in ginseng, Chen said. The items will either be returned to the country of origin or destroyed, said the FDA, which yesterday also published a list of nine other imported items that recently failed safety inspections. Other items rejected and destroyed or returned by customs included 780kg of fish sauce from Vietnam, 10,080kg of frozen water chestnuts from China and 20kg of cumin powder from India, the FDA reported.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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