TRANSPORTATION
Kaohsiung airport recovering
Kaohsiung International Airport is experiencing a solid recovery in capacity, with the number of international flights this summer reaching 82 percent of the level in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said on Wednesday. The main gateway in southern Taiwan provides 300 flights per week, a 46 percent increase from 205 flights last summer, the CAA said. The number of flight routes connecting the airport has also grown from 20 last summer to 25, with three more destinations in Japan — Okayama, Sapporo and Kumamoto — expected to be added this winter, it said. A regional breakdown reveals industry optimism regarding major flight route operations, it said. For instance, the total number of weekly flights to five major destinations in Japan — Narita, Osaka, Fukuoka, Okinawa and Nagoya — has increased from 29 flights last winter to 78 flights this summer, it said. The number of weekly flights to South Korea has increased from three to 32, while the number to Macau has risen from 27 to 95, it said.
TRAVEL
Malaysia expands autogates
People from 36 low-risk countries and regions, including Taiwan, would be able to use automated immigration clearance when entering Malaysia beginning on June 1, Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said on Thursday. The 36 countries are Taiwan, all EU member states, as well as Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Canada and China, including Hong Kong, the New Straits Times reported. These are in addition to travelers from a list of 10 countries — Australia, Brunei, Germany, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the US and the UK — which have enjoyed the automated entry system since December last year, it said.
CRIME
Patrol finds cigarette bundle
A coast guard patrol on Wednesday seized 164,000 packs of contraband cigarettes valued at nearly NT$10 million (US$310,501) after discovering them in a hidden compartment on a fishing vessel during an inspection, the Coast Guard Administration said. After boarding the fishing vessel, coast guard marine inspectors noticed that a machine was placed in an unusual position on the deck, agency official Hsieh Yu-mao (謝祐懋) said. They discovered a compartment after moving the machine and, using a handheld X-ray machine and a detection dog, found 164,000 packs of cigarettes stored in 328 boxes, Hsieh said. The 66-year-old captain, surnamed Wu (吳), and five Vietnamese crew members were referred to the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office for alleged contraventions of the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act (菸酒管理法), Patrol Command Two said in a press release.
CULTURE
Taiwan to be festival guest
Taiwan is to be the first-ever guest of honor country at the Festival Off Avignon in France in July and would showcase its cultural vitality through performing arts, film and publishing, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement on Thursday. The ministry cited Taiwan Cultural Center Director Hu Ching-fang (胡晴舫) as saying that the selection of Taiwan symbolizes the deep friendship between Taiwan and the festival. It was also representative of the festival’s compliments on it being 30 years since the Taiwan Cultural Center was established in Paris, Hu said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
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
RSS