CRIME
Fugitive killed in Bangkok
The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) yesterday said that a man found shot dead in an abandoned shop near Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok was a fugitive wanted by Taiwanese authorities. The man was identified as 44-year-old Shih Mou-chiang (石茂強), CIB International Criminal Affairs Division head Lee Kun-ta (李昆達) said, adding that the bureau verified his fingerprints using information Thai police gave to CIB liaison officers in Thailand. Taiwanese authorities had no record of when Shih departed Taiwan, as he left illegally, Lee said. Shih was wanted in Taiwan on suspicion of contravening the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), as well as robbery and causing injuries in a traffic incident. Shih might not have been killed where his body was found, Lee said. The bureau would maintain close contact with Thai police, who have identified some potential suspects, Lee said. Thai media reports said the body of an unknown man with three bullet wounds to the head was discovered by a cleaner near Suvarnabhumi Airport, along with a pair of gloves and 500kg of ketamine. After photographs published by Thai media showed the Chinese character “羅” (“lo”) tattooed on one of his arms, a local tattoo artist told police that the dead man could have been from Taiwan.
SOCIETY
Taipei book fair numbers up
The annual Taipei International Book Exhibition recorded about 550,000 visits during its six-day run, which ended on Sunday, up 9 percent from a year earlier, said the Taipei Book Fair Foundation, which organized the event. The increase in visitors was driven in part by the high number of young people who attended, encouraged by the government’s “Culture Points” program, which offers NT$1,200 e-vouchers for culture-related activities and products to people aged 16 to 22, foundation chairman Chao Cheng-ming (趙政岷) said. The foundation said that 358 school groups, including about 11,600 students and teachers, visited the book fair. The number of on-site events and activities increased 43 percent from last year to 1,162, it added. The exhibition, held at the Taipei World Trade Center, also attracted 262 international publishers and 266 international copyright agents, and hosted 61 foreign authors, the foundation said. Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) said there was a 185 percent increase in copyright-related meetings at this year’s fair. Such meetings, as well as government programs to subsidize translations, play an important role in getting Taiwanese books published abroad, he said.
TRAVEL
Tigerair to fly to Phu Quoc
Tigerair Taiwan is on April 2 to launch a new direct service between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc, as part of its efforts to expand into the Southeast Asian market. The low-cost carrier said in a statement that it would initially offer three round-trip flights between the two destinations every week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Flight IT557 bound for Phu Quoc would take off at 2:40pm from Taoyuan airport, while flight IT558 bound for Taoyuan would leave Phu Quoc at 6:25pm, the statement said. To celebrate the new route, special fares would be offered starting today, the airline said. Phu Quoc, which is off the coast of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand, is known for its scenic beaches and resorts, as well as its locally made fish sauce, pepper plantations and pearl farms. The island also allows visa-free entry for up to 30 days.
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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