MILITARY
Navy announces exercise
The navy yesterday announced that after upgrading its Chien Lung-class submarines, it would conduct a large-scale joint sea and air anti-submarine exercise late this month involving P-3C aircraft and S-70C(M) helicopters. The first of these submarines, the Sea Dragon (海龍), has completed sea trials, with its upgraded combat system performance meeting requirements, a military source said. The other Chien Lung-class submarine, the Sea Tiger (海虎), is still having its combat system upgraded, so the upcoming exercise off Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營) and southwest Taiwan would primarily feature the Sea Dragon, the source said.
Photo: Ann wang, Reuters
DIPLOMACY
Tsai visiting Japan
Former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) office on Tuesday confirmed that she is visiting Japan on a personal trip, but it declined to provide any further details about the tour. “[This is a] personal trip ... with no official schedule planned,” therefore, no information would be disclosed, Tsai’s office said in a brief statement. It is Tsai’s third overseas visit since leaving office in May last year, following two trips to Europe. In October last year, she traveled to the Czech Republic, France and Belgium, and in May, she visited Lithuania, Denmark and the UK.
SOCIETY
Lottery prizes increased
Taiwan Lottery Co on Tuesday announced that it would increase the jackpots in several of its lotteries by a total of NT$450 million (US$14.85 million) to celebrate the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and attract buyers. Taiwan Lottery president Hsieh Chih-hong (謝志宏) said from Tuesday next week, 100 extra NT$1 million bonus prizes would be offered in Lotto 6/49. In the 6/49 draw, buyers pick six numbers from a total of 49. Those who match all six would win NT$1 million, or share the prize if there are multiple winners. If not all 100 prizes are claimed, draws would continue until all are awarded or until Oct. 31, Hsieh said. The Lotto 6/49 is drawn twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. From Sept. 27, Taiwan Lottery would also add prize money for Bingo Bingo over 16 consecutive days. During the promotion, payouts would rise from six times the bet to seven times, while “super number” winners would see prizes increased to NT$1,500 per bet, up from NT$1,200.
TOURISM
Kenting among top spots
Kenting National Park was ranked fifth among the “top eight destinations in Asia with a population under 50,000,” according to an Agoda survey released last week. The survey was based on search volumes from Feb. 15 to Aug. 15 across eight countries: Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, India and South Korea. The seaside destination in southern Pingtung County — famous for its beautiful sunsets, clean white beaches, coastal walks and lush forests — ranked fifth in the lineup, showing Taiwan’s rising popularity among international tourists. The tea plantation-spotted hills of the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia was ranked first, followed by Khao Yai Island in Thailand and mountainous Puncak in Java, Indonesia.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
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