Japanese cyclists will join a daunting uphill bike race in Hualien County tomorrow as a gesture of gratitude for Taiwan’s assistance after a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan in March.
The second Maxxis Taroko International Hill Climb will test the endurance of 250 cyclists from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in a grueling 90km ride from sea level to an altitude of 3,275m.
Through its participation in the competition, the Japanese team hopes to show its appreciation for Taiwan’s disaster aid, Shinichi Fukushima said in Taipei on Thursday.
Taiwan donated about ￥20 billion (US$261 million) in aid to victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. Ninety percent of the money came from the private sector.
Fukushima, 39, who won stage five of the Tour de Taiwan in March, will wear T-shirts that say “Thank You Taiwan” during the race, as will his teammates. Hearts have also been printed on the sleeves of their racing outfits to symbolize gratitude.
One of the about 30 Japanese cyclists in the race will be Juki Taguchi, 75, who finished the route last year in seven hours and five minutes.
The riders will depart from the seaside township of Hsincheng (新城) on a route that will take them through Taroko National Park and up to Wuling (武陵), the highest point in the country accessible by road.
The toughest segment of the course is the last 10km, which rises 1,000m to the end point, said Lin Te-ho (林德和), vice secretary-general of the Taiwan Cyclist Foundation, which is organizing the event.
Lin said the 90km route, which ends more than 3,000m above sea level, is an unusual challenge.
It is likely that only about one-third of the cyclists will make it to the finish line, Lin said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS