SOCIETY
Fairy tale stamps announced
Chunghwa Post on Monday next week is to issue a set of four stamps featuring The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, The Little Match Girl and The Ugly Duckling, fairy tales by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the company said in a statement. A matching set of four illustrated postcards would also go on sale for NT$100 on the same day, the statement said. The postcards would be available at 37 branches, on the iPost platform and by pre-order at local post offices, it said. Each NT$8 stamp is designed in a symmetrical, paper-cut style, symbolizing themes drawn from the fairy tales of courage, imagination, hope and transformation, Chunghwa Post said.
Photo courtesy of Chunghwa Post Co
AIRLINES
Starlux to fly to Phoenix
Taiwan-based carrier Starlux Airlines yesterday said that it would begin nonstop flights between Taipei and Phoenix, Arizona, from Jan. 15 next year. The new route would be operated using Airbus A350 aircraft, with three weekly flights initially and a planned increase to four weekly flights beginning in March next year, the airline said in a statement. Phoenix, the fifth-largest city in the US, has had robust growth in tourism and business, particularly in the tech sector following Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s investment in the area, Starlux chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said. Starlux aims to leverage the momentum to expand its North American network and improve connectivity between Asia and the US, Chai said. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego welcomed the announcement, calling the new route “a testament” to the region’s international growth.
POLITICS
KMT chair vote set: source
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) plans to open registration in September for its chairperson election, with voting set for Oct. 18, after the Aug. 23 recall votes, party sources said yesterday. Twenty-four KMT lawmakers on Saturday survived recall votes. Another seven votes targeting KMT lawmakers are set for Aug. 23. The party’s Organizational Committee would propose the timeline and rules for its chairperson election to the Central Standing Committee today, party sources said. Its national congress is tentatively scheduled for late October or early November, when the chairperson handover would take place, one source said. The schedules follow party rules, they said. The KMT charter limits a chairperson to a four-year term. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) is to complete his term in October.
SOCIETY
Japan body a Taiwanese
A partly decomposed body that was discovered in an abandoned building in Japan has been identified by Japanese police as being of a Taiwanese. The body was discovered at 11:30pm on May 24 in a building that formerly housed a commercial facility in Niigata Prefecture’s Myoko City, Niigata Television Network 21 reported yesterday. A Japanese who visited the location for a “test of courage” event reported the matter to the Myoko police, the network said. An investigation confirmed that the deceased was a man in his 40s from Taiwan who is believed to have died about a year ago. The man had been visiting Japan for leisure, but after he failed to return to Taiwan, his family filed a missing persons report with police in Taiwan, the report said. Police in Japan said that no foul play was suspected, but added that an investigation into the cause of death was ongoing, the network reported.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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