TRANSPORTATION
Kaohsiung airport recovering
Kaohsiung International Airport is experiencing a solid recovery in capacity, with the number of international flights this summer reaching 82 percent of the level in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said on Wednesday. The main gateway in southern Taiwan provides 300 flights per week, a 46 percent increase from 205 flights last summer, the CAA said. The number of flight routes connecting the airport has also grown from 20 last summer to 25, with three more destinations in Japan — Okayama, Sapporo and Kumamoto — expected to be added this winter, it said. A regional breakdown reveals industry optimism regarding major flight route operations, it said. For instance, the total number of weekly flights to five major destinations in Japan — Narita, Osaka, Fukuoka, Okinawa and Nagoya — has increased from 29 flights last winter to 78 flights this summer, it said. The number of weekly flights to South Korea has increased from three to 32, while the number to Macau has risen from 27 to 95, it said.
TRAVEL
Malaysia expands autogates
People from 36 low-risk countries and regions, including Taiwan, would be able to use automated immigration clearance when entering Malaysia beginning on June 1, Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said on Thursday. The 36 countries are Taiwan, all EU member states, as well as Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Canada and China, including Hong Kong, the New Straits Times reported. These are in addition to travelers from a list of 10 countries — Australia, Brunei, Germany, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the US and the UK — which have enjoyed the automated entry system since December last year, it said.
CRIME
Patrol finds cigarette bundle
A coast guard patrol on Wednesday seized 164,000 packs of contraband cigarettes valued at nearly NT$10 million (US$310,501) after discovering them in a hidden compartment on a fishing vessel during an inspection, the Coast Guard Administration said. After boarding the fishing vessel, coast guard marine inspectors noticed that a machine was placed in an unusual position on the deck, agency official Hsieh Yu-mao (謝祐懋) said. They discovered a compartment after moving the machine and, using a handheld X-ray machine and a detection dog, found 164,000 packs of cigarettes stored in 328 boxes, Hsieh said. The 66-year-old captain, surnamed Wu (吳), and five Vietnamese crew members were referred to the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office for alleged contraventions of the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act (菸酒管理法), Patrol Command Two said in a press release.
CULTURE
Taiwan to be festival guest
Taiwan is to be the first-ever guest of honor country at the Festival Off Avignon in France in July and would showcase its cultural vitality through performing arts, film and publishing, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement on Thursday. The ministry cited Taiwan Cultural Center Director Hu Ching-fang (胡晴舫) as saying that the selection of Taiwan symbolizes the deep friendship between Taiwan and the festival. It was also representative of the festival’s compliments on it being 30 years since the Taiwan Cultural Center was established in Paris, Hu said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to