TRAVEL
Tigerair to add route
Tigerair Taiwan is to begin offering two round-trip flights to Oita, Japan, on April 2. That would be the carrier’s 21st route in Japan and the fourth for the island of Kyushu, the carrier said. The airline also has flights for Fukuoka, Saga and Miyazaki. Tigerair Taiwan, a subsidiary of China Airlines, said the new route is expected to broaden the airline’s network in Kyushu and give Taiwanese travelers more flexibility when they plan trips to the island. It would fly from Taoyuan to Oita every Wednesday and Saturday at noon, while flights from Oita would leave on the same days and arrive in Taoyuan at 5:55pm. An Airbus 320 would be used to fly the new route. Tigerair Taiwan said it hopes to take advantage of Oita’s natural beauty and Taiwanese’s continued interest traveling to Japan.
Photo courtesy of Tigerair Taiwan Ltd
DIPLOMACY
Aid agreement signed
Taiwan signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Thursday in London to join an initiative to support Ukraine’s workforce development. Representative to the UK Vincent Yao (姚金祥) attended the signing ceremony to join the Human Capital Response Program for Ukraine and affirmed Taiwan’s commitment to helping reconstruction efforts. The program encourages businesses to invest in workplace inclusion, accessibility, childcare support, vocational education and improved work environments to aid Ukraine’s economic recovery. Yao said Taiwan is eager to share its expertise and provide humanitarian assistance. He also highlighted the nation’s long-standing cooperation with the EBRD in transportation logistics, refugee aid and cybersecurity resilience.
TOURISM
Hualien incentivizes travel
Hualien County yesterday launched a new incentive program to attract more foreign tourists, offering travel agencies up to NT$4,000 per person in tour groups to the county. The program is to run until Nov. 30, during which travel agencies that bring tour groups with at least 12 foreign visitors to Hualien can apply for cash rewards. The incentives are based on the length of stay — NT$2,000 per person for two nights, NT$3,000 per person for three nights and NT$4,000 per person for four nights. To qualify, the tour must also include at least one “eco-friendly activity,” such as staying at a certified green hotel, dining at an eco-friendly restaurant or visiting an environmental education site such as Liyu Lake (鯉魚潭) or the Chihnan Nature Center. For more information, visit https://hltrip.tw/agency/rule.php.
SOCIETY
Car crashes in Hsinchu
A sport utility vehicle driver in Hsinchu City yesterday lost control of his vehicle, leaving one person dead and six injured. The driver, a man surnamed Lin (林), abruptly swerved to avoid colliding with another vehicle, Hsinchu City Police Bureau Traffic Police Brigade chief Hsu Wei-liang (許惟亮) said. Lin lost control and crashed into the car in front of him and another car waiting to turn left. Lin’s vehicle then flipped over and ran into two other cars and a motorcycle, Hsu said. The woman driving the motorcycle had an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Lin and his passengers were treated for multiple abrasions. A breath alcohol test showed there was no alcohol in Lin’s blood, but the case would be handed over to prosecutors for an investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter charges, Hsu said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened 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), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
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