CRIME
Northern schools reopen
School campuses in northern Taiwan reopened to the public during non-school hours yesterday, following the capture late on Wednesday of an escaped fugitive in New Taipei City. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Yilan County all announced the reopenings on Wednesday evening, after saying earlier in the day that the campuses would remain closed to the public for an indefinite period. The escaped fugitive, identified as Chien Yu-hung (簡郁紘), fled from a secure facility at a Keelung hospital on Sunday, where he was receiving court-ordered treatment for mental illness, police said. The 39-year-old was found guilty in August last year of attempted murder after assaulting a pedestrian with a glass bottle seven months earlier. Following Chien’s diagnosis of schizophrenia, the Taipei District Court sentenced him to five years of medical guardianship to be followed by a three-year prison sentence. On Monday, Chien was found to have taken the Taipei MRT from Longshan Temple Station to Xinpu Station, at which point the authorities stepped up the search in New Taipei City. The New Taipei City Police Department on Wednesday said that it arrested Chien at an apartment building in Sinjhuang District (新莊).
DIPLOMACY
MOFA, Austria begin talks
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said that it has been engaging in talks with the Austrian government after it was recently informed that Taiwan-issued international driver’s permits (IDP) would no longer be accepted in the EU country. Before the issue is resolved, the government has temporarily suspended accepting Austria-issued IDPs in Taiwan, MOFA deputy spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said. The ministry confirmed a day earlier that it had been notified by the Austrian government of its decision to no longer accept Taiwan-issued IDPs. The Austrian Office in Taipei yesterday said that it had not been made aware of the Austrian government’s decision ahead of time, adding that it has since been relaying Taiwan’s reaction to Vienna, including the decision to suspend the acceptance of Austrian-issued IDPs. The office is still waiting for its government’s official response.
TRADE
Taiwan, UK sign MOU
Taiwan and the UK on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on organic agriculture cooperation, allowing the export of related products between both sides. Attending the signing ceremony at the British Office Taipei, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Minister Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) said the MOU between his ministry and the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was groundbreaking for Taiwan’s agriculture sector. Under the MOU, the two sides are to recognize each other’s organic food and processed products, a prerequisite for Taiwan to allow such imports as regulated by the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act (有機農業促進法). Prior to Wednesday’s MOU, Taiwan had only signed similar treaties with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, India and Paraguay, Hu said. The UK has 480,000 hectares of organic farmland and has been eager to export its products to Taiwan since Brexit, he said, adding that among the products from the UK are coffee, beverages and processed food products. The European market in general is interested in Taiwan’s organic tea, rice flour, cookies made from mixed grains, processed fruit juice, organic rice and gluten-free grains, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
RSS