MILITARY
US outlines jet issues
The US Air Force “continues to explore all options to prioritize and expedite” sales of F-16s to Taiwan, an official said on Wednesday in response to concern expressed by US lawmakers. US Air Force Assistant Secretary Andrew Hunter responded to a letter from lawmakers expressing concern that delivery of the fighter jets promised to Taiwan might be undercut by expanding “regional security concerns around the world,” including competing US commitments to Ukraine and Israel. US House of Representatives members said that delays in a program to retrofit Taiwan’s existing F-16s were approaching three years due to a lack of key parts, while delivery of 66 new aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp has been delayed “by over 15 months due to software development complexities.” Hunter wrote that the program to retrofit F-16s “has delivered 136 aircraft, with the remaining three forecast for delivery” shortly.
ENTERTAINMENT
‘Abiding Nowhere’ makes cut
Abiding Nowhere (無所住), a new film by Taiwan-based Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), is to be screened as part of a special program at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. The festival on Wednesday announced the titles to be screened at its Berlinale Special, a program which also includes Cuckoo, a horror film written and directed by Tilman Singer. Abiding Nowhere is the 10th installation in Tsai’s Walker series, a suite of meditative performance films that capture Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng (李康生), dressed as a Buddhist monk, traversing public and private spaces in cities around the world.
WEATHER
Snow falls on Taipingshan
Snow fell in Taiwan on Thursday for the first time this winter on Taipingshan (太平山) in Yilan County as the temperature there plunged to minus-6°C. The owl sculpture at the Taiping Villa plaza, which is about 2,000m above sea level, was covered in a thin layer of snow, said Juan Ming-yang (阮名揚), a staff member at the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area management center. The wind at the villa was strong, but the snowfall was not intense, Juan said. Several enthusiastic snow chasers stayed in the villa overnight, but most of the 1,000 visitors on Thursday were urged to leave as early as possible due to concerns that icy roads could hinder their drive down the mountain, Juan said. The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Yilan branch, which runs the recreation area, said that there was about 1cm of snow at the villa and Cueifong Lake area early yesterday morning.
CRIME
Heroin user sentenced
A Miaoli County man surnamed Hsu (徐) was sentenced to 50 days in prison after being found guilty of negligence leading to his four-year-old son being poisoned by heroin, the Miaoli District Court said this week. The sentence can be commuted to a fine and the ruling can be appealed. Hsu, a tattoo artist, in February last year caused serious, permanent injuries to the child after leaving heroin on a coffee table in a hair salon where he was working on a client, the court said. Hsu had used the heroin and had fallen asleep after completing his work, leaving his son with access to the drug, the court said. The child’s urine tested positive for morphine and codeine, it said. The child was paralyzed, and lost speech and movement abilities due to lesions on the brain from ingesting the drug, the court said, citing a doctor’s report.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
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,
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