SOCIETY
Moomins star in lantern festival
The Taichung City Government has chosen the Moomins to be featured in the main lantern of the Central Taiwan Lantern Festival, the city government announced yesterday. The city government yesterday displayed a 21m Moomin at Citizen Square, saying it would be on display until the festival. The main lantern area at Central Park would feature an immersive “Aurora Light Show,” created with Moomins as the theme, it said, adding that the lights would be on from Lunar New Year’s Eve on Feb. 15 until March 3. Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) also revealed a small lantern featuring a Moomin riding a bicycle. The lantern fits the Year of the Horse, she said, referencing the literal meaning of the Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) term for bicycle — thih-be (鐵馬, “iron horse”).
Photo: Su Chin-feng, Taipei Times
RETAIL
Costco to raise fees
Costco Taiwan yesterday said it would raise its membership fees for the first time in 10 years, with the changes to take effect on April 1. The annual cost of Gold Star, Business and Business Add-on memberships would rise to a uniform price of NT$1,500 from NT$1,350, NT$1,150 and NT$900 respectively, the company said. Executive membership fees would remain unchanged, and exclusive services and rebates of up to NT$30,000 — the highest in Asia and the second-highest globally — would be maintained, it said. Each Business Add-on membership would still include one free household card, allowing entry for one cardholder and two others, it said. The company last adjusted its membership fees in 2016, it said.
DIPLOMACY
EU delegation in Taiwan
A 10-member European Parliament delegation led by European Taiwan Friendship Group Chairman Michael Gahler is visiting Taiwan from Sunday through Friday, during which they would meet with President William Lai (賴清德) and other senior officials to exchange views on issues of mutual concern, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The delegation made up mainly of European People’s Party members is the first group from the European Parliament to visit Taiwan this year, the ministry said in a statement. The delegates would meet with academics and non-governmental organizations on countering disinformation and cyberattacks, whole-of-society resilience, Taiwan-EU economic cooperation, and Indo-Pacific and cross-strait issues, it said. The group would also visit Kinmen County, it added.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Puma Shen images removed
The Ministry of Digital Affairs on Sunday said that satellite images of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) home and workplace have been removed from social media. A user of China’s Sina Weibo site uploaded the images on Thursday along with threats to have Shen arrested for “secessionism.” The post was circulated by Chinese media outlets. The ministry condemned the post and its promotion as “digital coercion,” accusing Chinese media of maliciously exposing a Taiwanese lawmaker’s home and workplace on platforms including Facebook and YouTube. The ministry said it immediately requested platform operators to remove the posts, adding that Meta and Google on Sunday reported that images, text and videos related to the posts had been removed. Using social media to threaten a lawmaker in a democratic country crosses a clear line, the ministry said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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