FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AIT halts Facebook updates
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday said it would temporarily suspend updates to its Facebook page due to a lapse in funding caused by the US government shutdown. Because of the lapse in appropriations, “this account will not be regularly updated until full operations resume, with the exception of urgent safety or security information,” AIT wrote on Facebook. “At this time, scheduled passport and visa services in the United States, at the American Institute in Taiwan (Taipei and Kaohsiung), as well as at U.S. Embassies and Consulates overseas, will continue during the lapse in appropriations as the situation permits,” the post said. The US federal government shutdown began at midnight Eastern Time yesterday after a deadlocked US Congress failed to reach a spending deal. The shutdown, the first since 2018, would halt some government services and programs, and see some non-essential workers placed on unpaid leave, US media reports said. The AIT represents US interests in Taiwan in the absence of official ties.
Photo: Screen grab from the AIT Web site
TRANSPORT
Tigerair adds Japan flights
The Tainan City Government yesterday announced that Taiwan Tigerair is to launch new routes from the city to the Japanese prefectures of Kumamoto and Okinawa at the end of December, beginning with two flights a week on each route. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) wrote on Facebook that the new routes mark “an important breakthrough” in the city’s efforts to expand its international tourism market. The Tainan-Kumamoto route is to start on Dec. 23, with flights scheduled every Tuesday and Friday, while the Tainan-Okinawa route is to begin on Dec. 25, operating every Thursday and Sunday, the Tainan City Government said. Detailed flight schedules are to be announced at a later date. The Tainan Tourism Bureau said in statement that Tainan, Kumamoto and Okinawa are among the most attractive tourist destinations in Taiwan and Japan, and share strong connections in history, culture, cuisine and regional exchanges. Tainan and Kumamoto are both home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co facilities, while Tainan and Okinawa share a maritime cultural heritage shaped by sea trade, the bureau said.
SOCIETY
Nara donates NT$2mn
Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara yesterday announced a donation of NT$2 million (US$65,681) and a plan to raise funds in Japan to support Hualien County after severe damage caused by overflow flooding from a barrier lake bursting during Super Typhoon Ragasa on Tuesday last week. In a social media post, Nara announced that NT$2 million from merchandise sales during her ongoing touring exhibition in Taiwan, Hazy Humid Day, which has run since April 2023, would be donated to Hualien to help flood victims. Nara also announced that he would hold a fundraising event called “Marker Tattoos” at the “Kaze to Rock Imonikai” music festival in Fukushima, Japan, on Saturday and Sunday, where participants can have drawings on their arms with markers, with all proceeds to be donated to Hualien. The overflow flooding from the Mataian River’s (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake affected Guangfu (光復), Wanrong (萬榮) and Fonglin (鳳林) townships in the eastern county, causing 18 deaths and six people missing, and resulting in those communities being inundated with mud and debris.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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