Sat, Jul 13, 2024 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  TOURISM

  Arrivals fall 24.8% in April

  The number of international arrivals in April declined 24.8 percent from March, the Tourism Administration said on Thursday. The agency attributed the decline to people canceling or postponing plans to visit Taiwan after an earthquake on April 3 devastated Hualien County. It said it has made promotional videos of safe travel in Hualien and has asked travel agencies to add alternative attractions to Taroko Gorge to their itineraries, as most of Hualien’s attractions have not been affected. April arrivals were 10.29 percent higher than a year earlier, agency data showed. On the other hand, arrivals from Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea and Singapore were the most affected, data showed. From January to March, monthly inbound traveler numbers increased year-on-year, they said, adding that in March, during which the Lantern Festival was held, visitor numbers rose to 811,608.

  DIPLOMACY

  EU envoy receives medal

  Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) at a ceremony in Taipei on Thursday conferred a medal on European Economic and Trade Office Head Filip Grzegorzewski. Lin presented the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy to Grzegorzewski and lauded him for his “great achievements in enhancing the partnership” between Taiwan and the EU over the past five years. Grzegorzewski has played “a crucial role” in increasing the EU’s attention to and discussions about the situation in Taiwan, Lin said. The European Council had expressed its concerns over the “growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait” and its opposition to “any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion,” he said. Praising Taiwan as a “symbol” of development, open society and freedom, Grzegorzewski said that people from Taiwan and the EU are bound by the shared values of human rights, rule of law and democracy. Taiwan and the EU are also important economic and trade partners, he said, adding that the EU was Taiwan’s largest investor, accounting for more than 25 percent of foreign direct investment. EU investment has not only contributed to Taiwan’s job market and economic development, but also connected Taiwan with the global community, he said, adding that he was “very, very proud” of this achievement.

  CRIME

  Men sentenced to life in jail

  Four extortion ring members who carried out deadly unlawful confinements in northern Taiwan were sentenced to life in prison by the Shilin District Court on Wednesday. Tu Cheng-che (杜承哲), the group’s ringleader, was convicted on 329 charges, including unlawful confinement resulting in death, fraud, forced drug abuse, initiating a crime organization and improper disposal of a body, the court said in a statement. Hsueh Lung-ting (薛隆廷), Hung Chun-chieh (洪俊杰) and Wang Yu-chieh (王昱傑) were found guilty on 327 counts, including unlawful confinement resulting in death, fraud and forced drug abuse. The men began luring people in September 2022 to rented residences in Taoyuan’s Jhongli (中壢) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) districts by holding fake interviews for high-paying jobs and offering large sums of money to “rent out” people’s inactive bank accounts, prosecutors said. Those who responded were held against their will by the perpetrators, who took their bank passbooks, account passwords and IDs, they said. Police in November last year found 35 people in an apartment in Taoyuan and 26 in Tamsui. The captives given sleeping pills or drugs to keep them lethargic and were beaten, electrocuted or pepper-sprayed, leading to the deaths of three people.
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