Two major international orchid shows scheduled to take place in Taichung and Tainan next month have been postponed due to concern over the spread of COVID-19.
Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said in a statement that he decided to postpone the Taiwan International Orchid Show, which was scheduled to take place from Saturday next week to March 16, after consulting with the Taiwan Orchid Growers Association and in consideration of public health.
The annual show, which is held at the Taiwan Orchid Plantation in the city’s Houbi District (後壁), attracted more than 210,000 visitors last year, creating NT$11.3 billion (US$372.6 million) in export opportunities, Huang said.
Huang added that he hoped the show could be rescheduled for the second half of the year.
In Taichung, Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said that the triennial World Orchid Conference, which was scheduled to be held from March 9 to 18, would be postponed “to a later time in 2020 after COVID-19 has subsided.”
Taiwan Orchid Growers Association secretary-general Tseng Chun-pi (曾俊弼) said that the impact of the postponement on the industry was difficult to calculate, while Tainan Agriculture Bureau Director Hsieh Yao-ching (謝耀清) said the city would work to adjust its contracts with the association and assist the group in seeking compensation from the Council of Agriculture.
In other news, Taipei 101 and Pacific Sogo Department Stores yesterday began taking the temperatures of shoppers, denying entry to those with readings of 37.5oC or higher.
Other measures have also been taken to combat the spread of disease, including improving the ventilation system to keep the building’s air clean and more intensively disinfecting elevators, escalators and restrooms in the shopping mall, Taipei 101 said.
Sogo said that its elevators, escalators and restrooms are disinfected every two hours, and customer service counters, VIP rooms and children playgrounds are disinfected every hour, with their frequency being increased during holidays.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of