DEFENSE
More Chinese incursions
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported renewed Chinese military activity, including 13 aircraft entering the nation’s “response” zone and five ships carrying out combat-readiness patrols. The ministry said that starting at about 7am, it detected 22 Chinese aircraft — fighters, bombers, early warning aircraft and drones — of which 13 entered Taiwan’s “response” zone, although it did not give details. The military sent aircraft and ships to monitor them, it said. Taiwan does not publicize where its “response” zone is, but it keeps closest watch on the Taiwan Strait and the area to the nation’s south and southwest where Chinese military activity often is concentrated. China has not announced further drills around Taiwan since Saturday, but it frequently mounts such missions without acknowledging them beforehand or afterwards.
SOCIETY
Woman dies after fall
A 74-year-old woman died after falling on the tracks at Taipei Railway Station yesterday, police said. The woman, surnamed Liu (劉), reportedly fell onto the tracks at platform B3 at about 12:10pm as a train pulled into the station. First responders pulled the woman out from under the train, but she was pronounced dead after being sent to hospital, police said. Police officers and emergency services at the scene said the injuries that the woman sustained were not sufficiently severe to have killed her and, as such, the cause of death remains to be determined.
CRIME
Teen ‘beaten to death’
Police in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) on Thursday arrested three suspects for allegedly beating to death a 19-year-old man who owed one of the suspects money. The victim, surnamed Chen (陳), is believed to have arranged a meeting in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲) with another man, also surnamed Chen (陳), whom he owed “tens of thousands of New Taiwan dollars,” the New Taipei City Police Department said. He was taken to a rental property by Chen and two other men, who allegedly beat him with a baseball bat and other blunt objects, police said. After he became unresponsive, the three suspects called an ambulance. He was pronounced dead after being rushed to the Tamsui branch of Mackay Memorial Hospital, which contacted the police at about 2am on Thursday.
DIPLOMACY
Swedish MP lauds ties
Visiting Swedish lawmaker Mathias Tegner said he looked forward to seeing more exchanges between Taiwan and Sweden in the areas of trade and technology, during a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office in Taipei on Wednesday. The two nations will “benefit from deeper cooperation and increased trade,” said Tegner, vice chair of the Swedish-Taiwanese Parliamentarian Association. He called for more exchanges between the two nations in areas of green technology and energy transition, saying both sides had “a lot to learn from each other,” adding that the opening of direct flights between Taipei and Stockholm “would further increase interactions between us.” Tsai expressed similar views, saying she looked forward to seeing the partnership between Taiwan and Sweden deepen, especially in tackling climate change and promoting supply chain security. Tegner arrived in Taiwan on Saturday with a cross-party delegation for a seven-day visit. The group departed yesterday.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
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