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.
LOW RISK: Most nations do not extradite people accused of political crimes, and the UN says extradition can only happen if the act is a crime in both countries, an official said China yesterday issued wanted notices for two Taiwanese influencers, accusing them of committing “separatist acts” by criticizing Beijing, amid broadening concerns over China’s state-directed transnational repression. The Quanzhou Public Security Bureau in a notice posted online said police are offering a reward of up to 25,000 yuan (US$3,523) for information that could contribute to the investigation or apprehension of pro-Taiwanese independence YouTuber Wen Tzu-yu (溫子渝),who is known as Pa Chiung (八炯) online, and rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源). Wen and Chen are suspected of spreading content that supported secession from China, slandered Chinese policies that benefit Taiwanese and discrimination against Chinese spouses of
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
The US approved the possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet spare and repair parts for US$330 million, the Pentagon said late yesterday, marking the first such potential transaction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. "The proposed sale will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of the recipient's fleet of F-16, C-130," and other aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement. Trump previously said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has told him he would not invade Taiwan while the Republican leader is in office. The announcement of the possible arms
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