SOCIETY
Taipei fireworks previewed
The government and the operator of Taipei 101 yesterday announced the theme and released a preview video of the upcoming Taipei 101 New Year’s fireworks show. Chia Yeong-chieh (賈永婕), chairwoman of Taipei Financial Center Corp, which owns and operates Taipei 101, posted the 75-second video simulation of the fireworks display on Facebook. The government owns a large stake in the firm through publicly owned companies. The Ministry of Finance said the themes of this year’s more than five minute fireworks display are “Team Taiwan” and “Champion,” in recognition of Taiwan’s triumph last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 tournament. The ministry added that Taipei 101 experienced steady revenue growth this year, driven by an increase in younger shoppers, and sales of luxury goods and jewelry, as well as rebounding numbers of international tourists.
SOCIETY
Lanterns to feature baseball
The upcoming Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taoyuan is to incorporate elements of baseball to celebrate the nation’s historic victory at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament last month, the Tourism Administration announced on Saturday. The designs are to reflect the joy and pride of Taiwan’s triumph, while highlighting baseball’s status as the national sport, Tourism Administration Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said. The main lantern, Infinite Paradise, would be showcased during the Feb. 12 to Feb. 23 festival held near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT’s A18 station, he said. A separate event venue would be set up at the A19 station, with the two areas together featuring more than 300 installations, he added. Separately, the Taipei City Government yesterday announced that it would distribute 100,000 small lanterns during the Taipei Lantern Festival, which is to be held from Feb. 2 to Feb. 16.
FOOD SAFETY
Better egg tracing mulled
National food chains might be required to use washed eggs carrying traceability codes from next year to make it easier to identify their source and farming practices, the Office of Food Safety announced on Saturday. The policy would likely cover establishments such as breakfast shops and bakeries, office director Hsu Fu (許輔) said, adding that details of the plan are still being discussed. Since 2022, Taiwan has mandated that washed eggs supplied to schools, the military, convenience stores, supermarkets, wholesale retailers and e-commerce platforms carry traceability codes. The two-line codes indicate where the egg was laid, the packaging date and the farm’s location.
TRANSPORTATION
HSR expects record journeys
The number of journeys taken on Taiwan’s high-speed rail (HSR) network this year is set to exceed the all-time high recorded last year, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp said yesterday. The number of journeys reached 71.1 million last month, exceeding the about 66.4 million rides for the same 11-month period last year, it said. In terms of the average daily ridership, 224,000 journeys were recorded in November, an increase of 7 percent compared with the 209,000 journeys in November last year. Apart from a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, annual ridership has grown steadily from about 15.6 million in 2007 to 73.1 million last year, the company said. This year also saw the highest monthly ridership since the network began operations 17 years ago, with nearly 6.8 million trips taken in March.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
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