SOCIETY
Woman fatally hit by train
A woman was yesterday hit by an arriving Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) train after she fell onto the tracks at Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung, and was later pronounced dead, the Railway Police Bureau’s Kaohsiung Precinct said. It received a report from the THSR station of a person falling onto the tracks shortly after the incident occurred at about 12:20pm. Emergency personnel quickly arrived at the scene, but said the woman showed no signs of life after efforts to resuscitate her failed, railway police said. The deceased’s identity and other details of the incident, including the circumstances that led to the woman ending up on the tracks, are being investigated, they said. Train services were not affected.
CRIME
Bribery suspects detained
Four more people have been detained over allegations of bribery relating to green energy projects, the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office said on Thursday. The four were active-duty and retired military personnel, identified by their last names Chang (張), Chen (陳), Hsu (許) and Yeh (葉). They are suspected of having colluded with a mediator, who is believed to have ties with a criminal gang, in soliciting bribes from green energy businesspeople, the office said. Working with the Investigation Bureau and Maritime Affairs Field Division, authorities on Tuesday raided 34 locations in Taichung, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and seized NT$1.3 million (US$40,114) in cash. Thirty-one people were questioned and some were granted bail ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$500,000.Prosecutors requested that Chang, Chen, Hsu and Yeh be detained and held incommunicado due to the risk that they could flee, collude or destroy evidence, which was approved by he Changhua District Court on Wednesday.
LEISURE
Free tours of new rail station
The Railway Bureau on Thursday said it is offering eight free guided tours of the rebuilt Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) Kaohsiung Railway Station on Dec. 28 and 29 to celebrate its completion at the end of the year. The tours, each with a maximum of 20 participants, are to provide a first look at the rebuilt station’s air-conditioning, ventilation, and water and electricity pipeline systems, which were previously closed to the public, the bureau said. Bookings would begin at 10am on Dec. 14, details of which are to be posted on the bureau’s Facebook page. During the 40 to 50-minute tour, visitors would be able to enter the underground central control room, from where tunnel smoke control and escape routes are monitored, and the signal system operating room and exit passageways at the end of the platforms, the bureau said.
ECONOMICS
Taiwan-Austria talk held
Taiwan and Austria held an economic dialogue aimed at deepening their partnership in technology innovation, semiconductor development and similar fields, the International Trade Administration (ITA) said on Thursday. The Taiwan-Austria Economic Dialogue, which took place via video conference on Wednesday, focused on enhancing collaboration in digital governance, life sciences, and research and development, the ITA said. ITA head and talks cohost Cynthia Kiang (江文若) said that Austria’s promotion of telemedicine aligns with Taiwan’s leadership in semiconductor and information technology. Austrian Directorate of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy head Elisabeth Weissenboeck said the partnership benefits both countries, as their economies are characterized by innovation and openness.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
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