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.
SCENARIOS: A potential conflict with Beijing would not be similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China would target energy and food supplies, a researcher said China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise. Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan. The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said. A large-scale cyberattack would be
HSINCHU CASES: Five people among 35 who were reported being sick were still in hospital after eating at a vendor in a market in Jhubei, the local health agency said Thirty-five people have sought medical treatment for acute symptoms after allegedly eating banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from a vendor in Jhubei City (竹北), the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that since Saturday, it has received several reports of suspected food poisoning from hospitals. The vendor has been ordered to temporarily suspend its business, it said, adding that tests were being conducted to determine whether the people had food poisoning, with results expected in about two weeks. A preliminary investigation showed that the people who sought treatment had recently eaten banh mi at a vendor at a retail market
GOOD MODEL: Speaking at his book launch, Law said that Taiwan is the most democratic Chinese-speaking country, which is why Hong Kongers relocated here China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday. Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行:羅冠聰的香港備忘錄). Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021. “Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also
IMITATING OTHERS? Tsai Ing-wen’s office said the former president rents a commercial unit for her personal office and had never used election funds to purchase real estate Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday confirmed that he used about NT$43 million (US$1.35 million) from his presidential election subsidy to purchase an office unit near the Legislative Yuan in May. Ko made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) earlier in the day told a news conference that she received a tip-off that the TPP chairman had purchased a 48.76 ping (161.2m2) office unit at Jinan Building (濟南大樓), a commercial building in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正). Lin said that Ko purchased the unit on May 10, paying about NT$43 million in cash,