FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Medic team to aid Ukraine
A volunteer medical team composed of Taiwanese members of the North American Taiwanese Medical Association is to leave for Ukraine today to provide medical services for local residents. Led by physician Tsai Jung (蔡榮), the 11-member team is to stay in Ukraine until Wednesday next week. Aside from providing humanitarian aid, the team would show that Taiwan stands with Ukraine, physician Lin Jung-sung (林榮松) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Legislative Speaker You Si-kun praised the team’s efforts and said that they demonstrate the “Taiwanese spirit.” United Microelectronics Corp founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠) has donated NT$10 million (US$313,735) to support the kindness of the team. Ukrainians have united to defend their country against Russia’s aggression, which should inspire Taiwan to come together in the face of the threats posed by China, Tsao said.
TRANSPORT
Umbrella-sharing launched
The Taipei MRT system yesterday launched an umbrella-sharing service across its stations, allowing people to rent umbrellas and return them at different sites. A total of 266 umbrella service sites have been set up at the MRT’s 117 stations, operator Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said. The rental fee is NT$19 for the first hour, NT$29 for the second, with a 24-hour cap of NT$39, it said. If the umbrella is not returned after one day, an additional NT$20 would be charged every 24 hours thereafter, it added. If the user has not returned the umbrella after 14 days, or an umbrella is vandalized or lost, the user would be charged NT$799, it said. Users can select various payment methods after downloading the Raingo app on their smartphone or tablet and registering by providing personal information such as a phone number and e-mail address, it said. Users who register successfully before the end of this month and enter a special discount number would receive two coupons, each one allowing them to rent an umbrella free for a 24-hour period, it added.
RETAIL
Eslite to open largest store
Eslite Spectrum is to open its largest branch in Asia at the Yulong City mall in New Taipei’s Sindian District (新店) on Sept. 28, it announced yesterday. In a press statement, the leisure and lifestyle retailer said the 19,000 ping (62,810m2) branch is to occupy B1 to the 4th floor at the mall, and would feature almost 250 vendors. The branch is to hold a soft opening ahead of its formal opening on Sept. 28, the company said. Eslite said it expects the Sindian branch to become its highest-earning location, and to help make up for profits lost when it closes its branch in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) in December. The company has previously said that when the Xinyi store closes, it would move the location’s designated 24-hour bookstore branch to its store in Taipei’s Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. Eslite added that it is planning to start the phased opening of a new branch in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯) in October, which at 7,500 ping, would be its largest store in central and southern Taiwan.
LEISURE
Cijin Beach closed
The Port of Kaohsiung’s operator on Sunday closed off Cijin Beach (旗津海水浴場) pending cleanup, one day after beachgoers reported finding tar balls washed up in a swimming area and along the shoreline. Taiwan International Ports Corp said the beach would be closed for at least three days to complete the cleanup before the forecast arrival tomorrow of Typhoon Saola. After closing off the beach at 6am, contract workers managed to clean up about 12kg of tar balls from the beach by the afternoon, leaving only scattered traces behind, the operator said. The pollution could have leaked from the container ship Angel, which sank about 5km outside the harbor on July 21, but further investigation was needed to confirm the source, it said.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
As Taiwan celebrated its baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 on Sunday, how politicians referred to the team in their congratulatory messages reflected the nation’s political divide. Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei (中華台北隊), made history with its first-ever Premier12 championship after beating Japan 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Right after the game, President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the team via a post on his Facebook page. Besides the players, Lai also lauded the team’s coaching and medical staff, and the fans cheering for them in Tokyo or watching the live broadcast, saying that “every
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