AVIATION
China Airlines to get 787s
China Airlines expects to take delivery of its first Boeing 787 aircraft in the first quarter of next year and begin operations with the new model in June on routes to Bangkok or Tokyo, company president Chen Han-ming (陳漢銘) said. Flight tests on the Boeing 787s are under way, and three to five aircraft are expected to arrive next year, he said. The airline ordered 16 of the aircraft in August 2022 and an additional eight in May 2023. Six of the aircraft would be the higher-capacity 787-10 variant. The new jets would gradually replace the carrier’s aging Airbus A330s, Chen said. The airline has also purchased 10 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, which are expected to arrive starting in 2029, as well as 10 777-9s and four 777-8F cargo aircraft from Boeing, expected to arrive starting in 2030, he said.
Photo: Yun-Jung Tsai, Taipei Times
SPORTS
Ngare, Clark win marathon
Kenya’s Joseph Mwangi Ngare won the men’s title and Australia’s Amelia Clark claimed the women’s crown at the EVA Air Marathon in Taipei yesterday. Ngare finished in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 12 seconds, while Clark clocked 2:47:25. In the half-marathon, Kenya’s Paul Ndungu Muchai won the men’s race in 1:07:11, and Taiwan’s Chen Mei-tung (陳美彤) took the women’s title with 1:22:00. Taiwan’s Huang Wei-sheng (黃為勝) and Lin Chien-i (林千藝) won the men’s and women’s 10km races respectively.
DIPLOMACY
Youth group visits Japan
A delegation from the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Youth Division, led by legislators Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) and Huang Jie (黃捷), departed to Japan yesterday to improve ties and promote direct dialogue. The trip is the division’s first official overseas mission since its establishment in April, Chen said. Arrangements have been made for meetings to discuss regional security, cooperation in technology industries, sustainable economic development and the cultivation of young political leaders, he said. The delegation also is to meet with senior officials and younger Japanese Diet members from major political parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party, the Japan Innovation Party, the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito, he added. Party-to-party exchanges are another channel for diplomatic engagement beyond government and parliamentary institutions, and help build stronger bilateral ties, Chen said.
DIPLOMACY
Unification ‘perks’ no appeal
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Saturday said that the “benefits after unification” touted by Chinese authorities at an event in Beijing marking “the 80th anniversary of Taiwan’s restoration to China” hold no appeal for the people of Taiwan. “The crux of cross-strait relations lies in systemic differences, and the Chinese Communist Party’s so-called ‘benefits after unification’ hold no appeal for the people of Taiwan,” the MAC said in a statement. Beijing is attempting to unilaterally draw a blueprint for unification and tout its supposed advantages to “entice” Taiwan, it said, adding that “the essence of cross-strait relations is a contest of systems, where democracy and authoritarianism cannot be reconciled.” At the Beijing event, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧) said that after “peaceful unification,” Taiwan would have the support of a “powerful motherland” and that seven aspects of life, including economic development and energy security, would “be better.”
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
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