Students from six African countries will meet their Taiwanese counterparts in friendly soccer games in Taipei on Saturday to celebrate May 25 “Africa Day” and the upcoming FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The friendly meet is one of a series of events the ministry is organizing to celebrate “Africa Week,” which has added importance this year because it is the 50th anniversary of independence for many African countries, said Samuel Chen (陳士良), director of the ministry's Department of African Affairs.
The friendlies will be held at National Taiwan University and will open with a match between ministry officials and a team consisting of officials from various African embassies and representative offices in Taiwan. Later, teams of students from Burkina Faso, Gambia, Swaziland and Sao Tome and Principe — Taiwan's four diplomatic allies in Africa — and a mixed team of South African and Nigerian students will play local university teams, Chen said.
Chen said that South Africa has introduced a special 90-day “event visa” for those holding tickets to the 2010 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in South Africa from June 11 to July 11. Fans traveling to South Africa for the games will be able to enjoy expedited customs clearance and the special visa is free of charge.
He reminded people planning to watch matches in South Africa about the changeable weather conditions and the flu pandemic, saying that the ministry's offices in Cape Town is ready to help any nationals who encounter problems while traveling to the tournament.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
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,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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