TRAVEL
Matsu reopens to tourists
Taiwan’s Matsu Islands on Friday welcomed the first post-COVID-19 tour group from China, following an announcement from Chinese authorities in April allowing residents from Fujian Province to travel to Matsu. The seven-member group is scheduled to spend three days visiting major tourist spots on the islands, Matsu Longfu Travel Agency said. The tourists have backgrounds in industries such as trade and tourism, it said, adding that other than sightseeing, the visitors are also hoping to explore cross- strait business opportunities. Beijing announced the eased travel restrictions on April 28, which it said would take effect once the direct ferries between Matsu and Pingtan County in Fujian resume. Travel links between Taiwan and China have been largely frozen for the past three years, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. China halted independent travel to Taiwan on Aug. 1, 2019, citing poor cross-strait relations. It suspended group travel to Taiwan in 2020. The Mainland Affairs Council said the tour group is the only group to have submitted a travel application. The council said it was happy to see the arrival of Chinese tourists and welcomed more Chinese to visit Matsu and Kinmen islands.
CRIME
Officer drowns in river
A sergeant major stationed at the National Defense University was found to have drowned near Guandu Bridge in New Taipei City yesterday morning. The officer, surnamed Lu (呂), was spotted in the Tamsui River by a civilian. He had no vital signs when police and medical personnel arrived at the scene, the university said. Lu drove to Guandu on Friday and a vehicle parked near the bridge was confirmed by his wife to be his, a source in the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The police are investigating Lu’s death. Should they determine that Lu died in an accident or from an illness, his family would receive a consolation payment. Under the Indemnities Act for Military Personnel, officers who commit suicide are categorized as having died from an illness and their families are entitled to a consolation payment. However, families of military personnel who commit suicide after a crime would not be entitled to any consolation payment.
SOCIETY
Teaching program wraps up
More than 500 young people from 22 countries completed a month-long English teaching program in Taiwan earlier this month, during which they built connections with Taiwanese culture and helped teach students. The program recruited 502 volunteers, aged 17 to 25, who taught English in more than 80 elementary and junior high schools around Taiwan, the Overseas Community Affairs Council said. Sasha Erenburg from London said she had wanted to come to Taiwan to learn about the culture, because her Mandarin teacher is Taiwanese. Meanwhile, Sydney Lee, a 19-year-old from California said she liked the bus rides and seeing how different the scenery was from the US. Maljeveljeve Tiudjalimaw, an official at the Council of Indigenous Peoples, said three volunteer teams served in indigenous communities in Hualien, Taichung and Pingtung. She added that some children now aspire to study abroad following the experience. Council head Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) thanked participants for helping Taiwanese children gain a broader worldview. The council’s English teaching program has been held annually since 2006, and more than 7,000 “overseas youth” have been recruited to help teach English to Taiwanese children.
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,