■ RETAIL
Ma launches MIT label
Consumers can now buy “made in Taiwan” (MIT) products at select convenience stores and hypermarkets around the country. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday presented letters of authorization to 14 chain stores that offer “MIT” label products. The president said the MIT label was a guarantee of product origin and quality. The government doesn’t only care about high-tech companies and big enterprises, he said, but is also duty-bound to promote all locally made products. The Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to hold MIT promotions and sales events and has collaborated with distributors to make MIT items more accessible to consumers nationwide, he said.
■ POLITICS
Chen's son sues magazine
The son of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday filed a civil lawsuit against Next Magazine, demanding NT$2 million (US$62,300) in compensation after the weekly published a story last week alleging that he had solicited the services of a prostitute. Accompanied by his lawyer, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) filed a suit against the magazine, editor-in-chief, Chiu Ming-hui (邱銘輝), editor Hsu Wen-cheng (徐文正) and reporter Chen Su-yu (陳肅瑜) at Kaohsiung District Court. Chen Chih-chung also demanded that Next Magazine run a half-page apology in the Chinese-language United Daily News, China Times, Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) and Apple Daily. The lawyer said his client decided to file a civil rather than a criminal lawsuit because it was hard to prove Next had intentionally attempted to defame his client’s reputation.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Air service talks to resume
Taiwan and China have agreed to reopen negotiations to try to settle a dispute over the destination of new flights across the Taiwan Strait, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) told a news conference on Sunday. Yeh said talks would reopen in a week or two. The two sides agreed in May to increase the number of weekly cross-strait flights from 270 to 370, without identifying the flight destinations. China proposed this month that 20 of them would be from Taiwan to Xiamen and Fuzhou, with most of the flights taking off late at night. Taiwanese officials rejected the proposal, demanding that the new services should be to higher-traffic areas like Shanghai, and that the flight schedule be changed to more convenient times. Beijing had initially refused to reopen negotiations.
■ MILITARY
Air Force ‘negligent’
The Air Force yesterday admitted that parts of a special aircraft used by the president and the premier for domestic trips had not been changed periodically since it came into service 18 years ago. The Control Yuan launched an investigation into the condition of a Fokker-50 after two incidents in the past year. In November, smoke and flames burst from the tires as the Fokker, with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on board, taxied on arunway. In March, the same aircraft failed to take off twice as it was carrying Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) from Kaohsiung to Taipei. The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday that the Control Yuan had ruled that the Air Force had failed to ensure good maintenance of the aircraft and accused it of neglecting the safety of the heads of state. Air Force spokesman Lieutenant General Pan Kung-hsiao (潘恭孝) said the Air Force would carry out a comprehensive overhaul of personnel, maintenance and equipment to ensure the plane’s safety.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
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