TRAVEL
Passport ranked 69th
Taiwanese can enter 100 countries and territories without a visa, putting the nation’s passport 69th on the VisaGuide Passport Index for this month. Taiwan has had the same ranking in the monthly index since January, the VisaGuide.World Web site showed. Singapore topped the latest index, with holders of its passport having visa-free access to 159 countries. The country has been ranked first since March. Japan was 13th in the latest index, the best-performing Asian country after Singapore. Holders of Japanese passports can visit 143 destinations without a visa. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea was ranked 31st, Hong Kong 46th, Macau 58th and China 117th. Following Singapore, the top 10 was rounded out by Italy, Spain, France, Hungary, Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. The index evaluates and ranks the passports of 199 countries and territories. The index uses the Destination Significance Score mechanism as part of its ranking method, the Web site showed. Factors including GDP, as well as indices for “power,” “tourism” and “human development” are taken into account.
CRIME
Fraud suspects arrested
Sixteen people who are alleged members of a fraud ring that impersonated local investment expert Hsieh Chin-ho (謝金河) and made profits of more than NT$140 million (US$4.33 million) were arrested on Wednesday, the New Taipei City Police Department said on Friday. Police said that the ring, which had advertised nationwide since last year using the name of Hsieh, chairman of Investment Media, to falsely endorse investment schemes, was raided in a hotel in Taipei. The suspects lured 12 jobseekers with online advertisements and allegedly held them captive in hotel rooms in Taipei and New Taipei City. They demanded their ATM cards and bank account details, police said. The information was used to create proxy accounts to defraud 32 other people, with the “hostages” released only after their accounts were red-flagged by the authorities for money laundering and rendered useless, police said. The case has been transferred to the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office, police said.
EDUCATION
NCKU ranked No. 25
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) was ranked 25th in the world in the latest Times Higher Education Impact Rankings released on Wednesday, the highest ranking of listed Taiwanese universities. The impact rankings assess universities around the globe against the UN Sustainable Development Goals. There were 51 Taiwanese universities on the latest list, four more than last year. Four Taiwanese universities were in the top 100: NCKU, sharing 25th with the University of Strathclyde and Michigan State University; National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (50th); National Taiwan University, which shared 55th with Cardiff University; and Tunghai University in 100th. National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, and Taipei Medical University were in the group ranked No. 101 to 200. National Chung Hsing University, National Sun Yat-sen University, National Tsing Hua University and Tamkang University were in the 201-300 group. The top five institutions were Western Sydney University at No. 1, followed by the University of Manchester and the University of Tasmania in a tie for second, Aalborg University in Denmark in fourth and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in fifth.
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)
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
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