TECHNOLOGY
Taiwan wins big in Seoul
Taiwan on Friday won a grand prize, 22 golds, 25 silvers and 34 bronze awards, as well as five special prizes at the Seoul International Invention Fair. A delegation of 146 people, led by the Taiwan Invention Association, participated in the fair, taking with them 97 inventions. Taiwanese biotech company TCI won the grand prize, the highest award at the fair. Taipei City University of Science and Technology was the biggest winner among those in the delegation, taking home seven golds, three silvers and five bronzes, as well as two special prizes awarded by South Korea and Thailand. A special prize is given by a foreign country to an outstanding and interesting invention. Most of Taiwan’s entries this year were in the biotechnology category, the association said.
SOCIETY
One dead, 6 hurt in crash
A scooter driver died after being struck from behind by a car in Kaohsiung’s Sanmin District (三民) yesterday, the district’s second police precinct said. Six other people were injured in the collision, which occurred on Dingli Road at about 8am, police said. A 67-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) allegedly hit eight scooter drivers from behind as they were waiting for the traffic light to change, police said. A male scooter driver who was pinned against a roadside transformer box by the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, adding that Tseng had immediately been arrested.
TRANSPORTATION
MRT records 13bn rides
The Taipei MRT system recorded its 13 billionth passenger on Friday, with the individual able to travel free of charge on MRT trains for a year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The passenger, who entered Zhongxiao Fuxing Station at 7:50pm to travel to Xindian Station, also won a free night in the Crystal Resort at Sun Moon Lake’s presidential suite, which is worth NT$88,000, the company said in a statement. The five passengers who traveled before and after the winner would each receive a free 30-day TPass, TRTC said. The winners were decided based on the time they entered an MRT station using an electronic card, but also had to be registered MRT members, the company said. Passenger volume on the MRT system, which was introduced in 1996, is expected to top 700 million this year, it said.
CRIME
Migrants arrested for drugs
Two Vietnamese who went missing from their legally designated place of employment have been arrested, during which narcotics were seized from them, Taichung police said yesterday. The two suspects, surnamed Chu and Nguyen, were arrested in late September after a tip-off was received about their whereabouts, police said. Officers disguised themselves as buyers and contacted Chu, 29, and Nguyen, 26, and set up a meeting for a drug deal at a karaoke bar where the arrests were made, police said. The suspects were caught with a variety of drugs, including ketamine and amphetamines, as well as NT$30,000 in cash, they said. Chu and Nguyen worked at a processing factory, but left in October last year after complaining of low pay, police said, adding that during interviews they admitted to later selling drugs to make a living. Meanwhile, a court granted a request by prosecutors to detain the two suspects, as they are being investigated for contravening the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
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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