■ TRANSPORTATION
TV coverage canned
The government will axe a public exhibition of military might from annual training exercises next month to further ease tensions with China, a defense official said yesterday. Under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who took office in May on pledges to make peace with China, the Sept. 22 to Sept. 26 Han Kuang series of exercises will leave out the televised live-fire displays that Ma’s predecessors would use to flex muscle before Beijing. “No show this year,” a military official said, adding that public displays of military exercises have political implications. “Political intrigue and military preparedness do not gel together well,” said Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief for Defense News. “Ma has stated repeatedly [that] his administration will seek a peace accord with China.”
■ TRANSPORTATION
MRT lines delayed
The Council for Economic Planning and Development said on Monday it would push back by one year the scheduled completion of five mass rapid transit (MRT) lines in Taipei’s second-stage MRT plan. The 11 members of the council approved a motion at a regular meeting to delay the completion of the Neihu, Xinyi, Xinzhuang, Luzhou Branch and Songshan lines by one year from the scheduled launch dates. The Nangang Line’s eastward extension, however, will become operational by the end of this year as scheduled, the council said. The Taipei MRT system currently has eight lines — Muzha, Danshui, Zhonghe, Xindian, Banqiao, Nangang, Tucheng and the Xiaonanmen— totaling 76.6km. Construction on six additional lines — initially scheduled to open between next year and 2013 — began five years ago, but a number of factors have caused various delays in the projects, the council said.
■ CRIME
Unarmed man robs bank
A man with a motorcycle helmet broke into Chinfon Bank’s Da-an branch in Taipei City yesterday and robbed it of NT$610,000 without using any weapons. The robbery took place at 11:30am. Police said the robbery was captured on closed-circuit surveillance video. The man wore a blue shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. Witnesses told police that as some of the bank clerks were on their lunch break, there were only two female clerks behind the counter, while security officers were not inside the bank. Witnesses said the man, without saying anything or flashing any weapons, jumped over the counter and began loading cash from one of the drawers. It took him just 47 seconds to take the money and take off on a scooter.
■ ECONOMY
Milk prices to stabilize
The price of milk powder, which has constantly gone up since last year, is not expected to rise again in the coming months, as production prices have dropped from their peak in February, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a report yesterday. Government Information Office Deputy Minister Albert Lin (林清修) told reporters that New Zealand has been Taiwan’s main source of milk powder, followed by China and the Netherlands. The price of both wholesale milk powder imported from New Zealand and international fresh milk had dropped in the past two months, he said. Lin said the price of milk powder imported from New Zealand was now back to the same level as in February last year and that between Aug. 1 and last Wednesday, the price of domestic fresh milk had dropped 1.2 percent from last month. The price of milk powder, however, was up 0.5 percent.
■ SOCIETY
Beef noodle votes welcome
The 2008 Taipei Beef Noodle Festival was announced yesterday, with 60 selected shops offering 10 percent discounts every Thursday from Sept. 4 to Nov. 13. The Taipei City Government invited the public to join an online voting activity to select the best noodle shops in Taipei City by visiting the event’s official Web site at www.2008tbnf.com.tw to cast votes between Sept. 17 and Oct. 31. A beef noodle carnival will be held from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16 with creative beef noodle cooking contests and various activities to promote the local dish, said Liu Chia-chun (劉家均), director of Taipei City’s Office of Commerce. The festival, which enters its fourth year, was first held in 2005 to revive the popularity of beef noodles.
■ EDUCATION
Kinmen readies for Russian
The National Kinmen Institute of Technology is to forge sisterhood ties with the Far Eastern State Technical University located in Vladivostok, Russia, the president of the Kinmen school said yesterday. Lee Chin-chen (李金振) said that as Kinmen had been on the frontline in the battle against communist regimes, including the Soviet Union, for over 60 years, the island had no contact with the Russian language. However, under the current situation, with Kinmen’s warming ties with China and the establishment of the “small three links,” the island has been working to increase its ties with Russia, which shares a 4,000km border with China, he said. He added that he would travel to the Far Eastern State Technical University on Sept. 23. Lee said that the exchanges with the Vladivostok-based school under the sisterhood agreement would mean that the Kinmen technical institute’s practical foreign language curriculum would not be restricted to English.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Upon its completion next year, the new Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) in New Taipei City is to be an important landmark in Taiwan, alongside Taipei 101, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said today. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in December next year and open to the public in the first half of 2026, connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts. It is an asymmetric single-tower suspension bridge, nearly 70 stories tall, designed by world-famous architect Zaha Hadid. The bridge aims to alleviate traffic in Tamsui and on the Guandu Bridge (關渡大橋), in addition to increasing the
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