TRAVEL
Passport ranked 69th
Taiwanese can enter 100 countries and territories without a visa, putting the nation’s passport 69th on the VisaGuide Passport Index for this month. Taiwan has had the same ranking in the monthly index since January, the VisaGuide.World Web site showed. Singapore topped the latest index, with holders of its passport having visa-free access to 159 countries. The country has been ranked first since March. Japan was 13th in the latest index, the best-performing Asian country after Singapore. Holders of Japanese passports can visit 143 destinations without a visa. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea was ranked 31st, Hong Kong 46th, Macau 58th and China 117th. Following Singapore, the top 10 was rounded out by Italy, Spain, France, Hungary, Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. The index evaluates and ranks the passports of 199 countries and territories. The index uses the Destination Significance Score mechanism as part of its ranking method, the Web site showed. Factors including GDP, as well as indices for “power,” “tourism” and “human development” are taken into account.
CRIME
Fraud suspects arrested
Sixteen people who are alleged members of a fraud ring that impersonated local investment expert Hsieh Chin-ho (謝金河) and made profits of more than NT$140 million (US$4.33 million) were arrested on Wednesday, the New Taipei City Police Department said on Friday. Police said that the ring, which had advertised nationwide since last year using the name of Hsieh, chairman of Investment Media, to falsely endorse investment schemes, was raided in a hotel in Taipei. The suspects lured 12 jobseekers with online advertisements and allegedly held them captive in hotel rooms in Taipei and New Taipei City. They demanded their ATM cards and bank account details, police said. The information was used to create proxy accounts to defraud 32 other people, with the “hostages” released only after their accounts were red-flagged by the authorities for money laundering and rendered useless, police said. The case has been transferred to the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office, police said.
EDUCATION
NCKU ranked No. 25
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) was ranked 25th in the world in the latest Times Higher Education Impact Rankings released on Wednesday, the highest ranking of listed Taiwanese universities. The impact rankings assess universities around the globe against the UN Sustainable Development Goals. There were 51 Taiwanese universities on the latest list, four more than last year. Four Taiwanese universities were in the top 100: NCKU, sharing 25th with the University of Strathclyde and Michigan State University; National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (50th); National Taiwan University, which shared 55th with Cardiff University; and Tunghai University in 100th. National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, and Taipei Medical University were in the group ranked No. 101 to 200. National Chung Hsing University, National Sun Yat-sen University, National Tsing Hua University and Tamkang University were in the 201-300 group. The top five institutions were Western Sydney University at No. 1, followed by the University of Manchester and the University of Tasmania in a tie for second, Aalborg University in Denmark in fourth and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in fifth.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
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