TRANSPORTATION
Alishan train to resume
The Alishan Forest Railway in Chiayi County is to resume full operations on Saturday, 15 years after part of the line was closed due to damage by Typhoon Morakot, the Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office said. Eighty-five tickets for the first train on Saturday were sold out within 10 minutes of going on sale at 2pm yesterday, when online bookings for tickets from that day to July 16 started, office deputy director Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. All tickets for direct services from Chiayi Station to Alishan Station from Saturday to Wednesday next week were also snapped up within 20 minutes, Chou said. Following the completion of the new No. 42 tunnel, the railway is to reopen with a new timetable and four trains daily, he said. The full fare for a one-way journey from Chiayi to Alishan is NT$600. Ticket prices are unchanged, but fares might be adjusted after nine newly purchased locomotives and 48 cars go into service in the second half of next year, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office
MILITARY
PLA planes, ships detected
Nineteen Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and vessels were detected in the airspace and waters around Taiwan in the 24-hour period starting at 6am on Monday, including aircraft flying as close as 47 nautical miles (87km) from Keelung, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. Thirteen Chinese military aircraft were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity, of which 10 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or its extension, entering the nation’s air defense identification zone, flight information released by the ministry showed. Six PLA vessels were detected in waters near Taiwan during the same 24-hour period, the information showed. The ministry said it was closely monitoring the situation and had deployed combat air patrol aircraft, coastal missile systems and navy vessels in response.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Marshallese minister arrives
Joe Bejang, the education, sports and training minister of the Marshall Islands, arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a five-day stay, during which he is to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on expanded cooperation. The agreement is to cover enhanced collaboration between the two nations on education and sports, and expanded exchanges on Austronesian cultural research, language teacher training and volunteer dispatching, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Bejang is also to meet with Marshallese students, as well as visit Ming Chuan University, the National Center for Traditional Arts and the National Human Rights Museum, the ministry said. The visit is Bejang’s first to Taiwan since he assumed his post in January as part of a new government.
LEISURE
Swim event expanded
The Sun Moon Lake Swimming Carnival in September is to accept 25,000 participants in groups of at least five this year, the Puli Four-Season Swimming Association, which organizes the event, said yesterday. As registration for last year’s event filled up in three days, the association has increased the participation cap to 25,000, it said, adding that 24,636 swan in last year’s event. Registrations open next month, it said. The Sept. 15 event is scheduled for two days before Mid-Autumn Festival, the Nantou County Government said. As Mid-Autumn Festival is on a Tuesday this year and the day before is a regular work day, the Sunday event should not interfere with holiday travel, it said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
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