MILITARY
China sanctions companies
Beijing yesterday said it was sanctioning two US defense companies, Lockheed Martin Corp and Northrop Grumman Corp, over their roles in supplying arms to Taiwan. Last month, Washington for the first time approved direct US military aid to Taiwan under an assistance program aimed at foreign governments. “Despite China’s firm opposition, the US government is determined to provide weapons to Taiwan ... seriously harming China’s sovereignty and security interests, and going further and further on the wrong and dangerous road of arming Taiwan,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) told a regular press briefing. She said that Lockheed Martin was the prime contractor in US arms sales to Taiwan that took place on Aug. 24, and that Northrop Grumman had taken part in sales “many times.”
TRAFFIC
Bridge to open on Oct. 7
Motorists would be able to travel from Taipei to New Taipei City over the new Zhongzheng Bridge that connects the two cities on Oct. 7, the New Taipei City Government said on Thursday. Lanes running from Zhongzheng District (中正) in Taipei to Yonghe District (永和) in New Taipei City are to open to traffic that day, the city’s Public Works Department said in a news release. Construction of the bridge, which began on May 6, 2019, is nearing completion, it said. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who toured the site with New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) in the morning, thanked everyone for their efforts, and said he looks forward to the bridge’s anticipated completion in August next year.
TRAFFIC
Pedestrian scramble opens
A pedestrian scramble is to be implemented at a busy Taipei intersection starting today, the Taipei Traffic Engineering Office said on Thursday. Located near Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station and two branches of the Sogo Department Store, the Zhongxiao E Road and Fuxing S Road intersection is a high-traffic area, the office said in a news release. To ensure smoother traffic flow and enhance pedestrian safety, a pedestrian scramble — a type of traffic signal that allows pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction at the same time by stopping all vehicles — would be implemented at the intersection on weekends from 11am to 8pm, the office said, adding that adjustments would be made as needed. There were 244 pedestrian scrambles in Taipei as of Aug. 21, according to office information.
SOCIETY
Air base to host party
A night party open to the public is to be held at Tainan Air Base on Oct. 8 as part of Double Ten National Day celebrations this year, the Tainan City Government said on Tuesday. The event is to host a concert featuring performances by a slew of artists and bands, including Taiwanese rapper Aquaman, singer Enno Cheng (鄭宜農) and Musou Band, who combine traditional Chinese instruments and pop music. There would be a display surrounding the concert area of Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Fighter jets, C-130H Hercules transport aircraft and other military weapons and hardware, it said. Tainan Air Base is normally off-limits to the public, therefore the party would be an opportunity for people to visit the military site, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) was quoted as saying in the release. The number of visitors would be limited to 1,500, with online registration open until Saturday next week, the city government said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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