POSTAL
Mail to the US resumes
The Chunghwa Post has announced it would resume registered mail services to the US today, after it stopped sending mail to the US on Oct. 16. US Customs became stricter in its reviews of imported mail, leading to frequent returns of mail sent from Taiwan to the country. Chunghwa Post said it had talked to the US Postal Service, and that it is again accepting registered letters, postcards, printed matter, newspapers, postcards and mail for the blind bound for the US. People who want to send mail to the US, whether containing goods or documents, must visit Chunghwa Post’s “EZPost Online Mailing” Web site and create an international mail dispatch form, it said. Paper dispatch forms will not be accepted, it added. Chunghwa Post also reminded the public that only gifts and books can be sent to the US, and that the value of gifts must not exceed US$100.
Photo: CNA
AVIATION
Airlines update software
All Taiwanese airlines completed a required software update on Airbus A320 series aircraft before 7am yesterday, following an emergency directive issued after a technical failure in the US, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said. Airbus said about 6,000 A320-family jets worldwide must undergo software updates and cannot be operated without the fix. The announcement followed reports of a flight-control system malfunction linked to solar flare interference. The CAA said it received the EU Aviation Safety Agency’s emergency airworthiness directive on Saturday, and immediately instructed local airlines to carry out inspections and update their software before the order took effect at 8am yesterday. All Taiwanese A320-family aircraft had completed the required updates before the deadline, it added. Tigerair Taiwan reported minor delays due to the adjustments, while all other airlines operated normally.
SOCIETY
Marine found dead in base
A marine on Saturday night was found shot dead in a military sentry box in a Kaohsiung base, in an apparent suicide. The man, a first lieutenant surnamed Hsu (許), was found dead inside the sentry box. He obtained a firearm and an unknown amount of ammunition from the base at about 7pm, the Marine Corps Command said, adding that the items were accessible for regular maintenance. The command said it immediately sealed off the crime scene to preserve evidence, pending a police investigation. It did not provide further details on when or where the incident occurred. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 1925, 1995 or 1980 hotlines for help.
CRIME
Murderer on run repatriated
A fugitive convicted of murder in 2000, who was hiding in Indonesia under an assumed identity, was repatriated to Taiwan on Friday, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. The 47-year-old man, surnamed Lai (賴), was flagged by Indonesia’s Directorate General of Immigration as a suspicious foreign national and reported to the CIB’s office in Indonesia, the bureau said. Lai was arrested in Jakarta on Wednesday. Lai in 1999 was involved in a brawl and stabbing case in Taipei that resulted in one dead and two injured, the CIB said. In 2000, he was sentenced to 11 years and two months in prison for homicide, and continued to receive heavy sentences after multiple appeals. To evade imprisonment, he fled Taiwan in March 2011.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
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