TRAVEL
HSR ticket event starts
The government yesterday launched a six-month campaign allowing foreigners making short visits to Taiwan to buy two high-speed rail (HSR) tickets to central and southern Taiwan for the price of one. From noon yesterday to May 31, people with visa-exempt entry or tourist visas allowing maximum stays of 180 days can purchase the tickets at online travel platforms KKday and Klook, the Tourism Administration said in a press release. Holders of Taiwan’s resident certificates or a Republic of China passport are not eligible to purchase the tickets, which are aimed at encouraging foreign tourists to visit less-traveled central and southern Taiwan, it said. The limited offer, based on a first-come, first-served basis, applies to HSR journeys ending at Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan or Kaohsiung’s Zuoying stations, it said. Foreign tourists who take advantage of the promotion this month would be given a bonus package, containing free round-trip tickets on the MRT Taoyuan Airport Line and a 72-hour free pass on the Taipei Metro system. Visitors can redeem that special offer at service counters at the airport line’s A12 and A13 stations between 6am and midnight, it said.
HEALTH
Dengue fever rate eases
The nation reported fewer than 1,000 dengue fever cases in the past week, indicating that the epidemic is alleviating, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. Several areas in Tainan and Yunlin County have been removed from the list of hotspot transmission areas, and the situation in Kaohsiung has also become less severe, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Tuesday. With the removal of Tainan and Yunlin’s Gukeng Township (古坑) from the list, there is no longer listed as a dengue fever transmission hotspot, indicating that the epidemic had entered its final phase, Lo said. Central Epidemic Command Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said the 759 domestic cases reported from Nov. 21 to Monday were in 14 administrative regions, mostly in Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County. Four deaths and seven severe cases were recorded during that week, Lee said. So far this year, the nation has logged 25,047 local dengue fever cases and 56 deaths, marking its worst outbreak since 2015, when there were more than 43,000 cases and 228 deaths.
SOCIETY
Mother dies in tent
A mother has died and her two daughters received medical treatment after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning at a Hsinchu County campground on Sunday, local authorities said. The Hsinchu County Fire Bureau said it received a call at about 2pm about a suspected poisoning at the campground in a mountainous area of Jianshih Township (尖石). Emergency responders found a woman, a 40-year-old resident of Taoyuan’s Longtan District (龍潭) surnamed Luo (羅), dead inside a tent. Her two daughters, aged 12, were taken by ambulance to a hospital, where they both regained consciousness, the bureau said. Hsinchu police said that initial suspicions were raised after the family failed to come out for breakfast on Sunday morning and then missed the 12pm check-out time. When the campground’s owner opened the tent to check on them, he found all three unconscious and immediately called an ambulance, police said. The bureau said the family might have taken a coal fire into their tent to keep warm as nighttime temperatures plunged. It added that it had referred the matter to police and prosecutors to investigate what exactly had happened.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
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