■TRAVEL
Pet food not for import
Quarantine authorities yesterday advised people against bringing pet food to Taiwan from abroad because some of the products may include ingredients that are barred from entering the country. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) made the announcement after inspectors from the Consumer Production Commission and the Taipei County Government found pet food at a pet store in the county containing US beef and offal. An investigation found the store owner was smuggling the products from the US into Taiwan for sale, a BAPHIQ official said.
■TRAVEL
Free Thailand visas end
Thailand resumed a policy of charging NT$1,100 for tourist visas yesterday after its visa-free policy, in place over the past year as part of its tourism stimulus measures, expired a day earlier. Officials at the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Taipei office said they could not comment on the possibility that the free visa policy would be extended into next year, because they had not received any official instructions on the matter. The Thai government has agreed to extend the tourism stimulus measures from April 1 to March 31 next year, but before the extension takes effect, Taiwanese will still have to pay for a visa to visit the country. The Tourism Authority said details related to the measures, proposed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, still needed to be discussed with the Thai foreign ministry and immigration bureau before they are implemented by the government. In addition to the visa fee exemption for foreign tourists, visitors will be granted US$10,000 in riot insurance covering any harm or delays they face while in Thailand because of political demonstrations or riots.
■CRIME
MOJ plans female jail
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) yesterday said it would establish the nation’s first women’s detention center in July in line with its policy of protecting women’s rights. Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) told a press conference that the detention center, to be built in Shilin (士林), Taipei City, would house female detainees from Taipei, Keelung and Taoyuan. The ministry has tried to improve prison and detention center facilities amid criticism that they are overcrowded. Wang said the ministry plans to build more detention centers and prisons for female detainees and inmates to safeguard women’s rights. Starting in January, all prisons and detention centers must add hot shower time for female detainees and prisoners and arrange for doctors to conduct periodical cervical screening tests, Wang said. She added that the ministry was adding female members to its parole review committee.
■TRANSPORTATION
Ships collide near Kinmen
A Taiwanese naval supply vessel collided with a Chinese freighter in thick fog near Kinmen on Thursday, Navy Fleet Command said that day. The supply ship Chung Pang, part of the Navy’s 151st Fleet, was on a routine mission when it was involved in a glancing collision with the Shunlong No. 6 5 nautical miles (9.3km) off Kinmen’s Liaoluo Port, the fleet command said. The Chung Pang was on its way from Taiwan to Kinmen, while the Chinese boat was heading south to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, from Zejiang when the incident took place. The Coast Guard Administration was investigating the cause of the collision.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
POLICY UNCHANGED? Despite Trump’s remarks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that US policy toward Taiwan has remained consistent since the 1970s US President Donald Trump on Wednesday again refused to make clear his stance on protecting Taiwan from a hypothetical takeover by China during his presidency. Asked by a reporter during a Cabinet meeting whether it was his policy that China would never take Taiwan by force while he is president, Trump declined to give a definitive answer. “I never comment on that,” he said. “I don’t comment on it because I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.” Trump also reiterated that he has a “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and said that Washington welcomes good relations with
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