AGRICULTURE
Taiwan seeks CSF-free tag
Taiwan has applied for recognition as a classical swine fever (CSF)-free country after ending pig vaccinations against the disease for a year, the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday said. Taiwan applied to the World Organisation for Animal Health on Friday, it said, adding that the nation has been free of CSF for one year as of July 1, following the ending of vaccination against CSF. If Taiwan successfully gains the recognition in May next year, it would be the only country in Asia to be officially declared CSF-free, the ministry said. Taiwan is also the only Asian country free of African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, it said. The status would lower the cost of raising pigs and enhance the nation’s competitiveness in international markets, it added. Taiwan began implementing a phased approach to end administering CSF vaccines last year. All vaccinations ceased on July 1 last year.
DIPLOMACY
Taiwan-Japan talks to begin
The sixth edition of talks on maritime affairs between officials from Taiwan and Japan would be held this week in Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday. The Maritime Affairs Cooperation Dialogue is scheduled to be held in Taipei tomorrow, the ministry said. The talks would touch on a range of issues concerning Taiwan and Japan, in particular cooperation on maritime safety, science, energy development, fisheries and environmental protection, it said. Led by Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Chairman Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), the Taiwanese side is to include officials from the Ocean Affairs Council, the Coast Guard Administration, the National Academy of Marine Research and the Fisheries Agency, among others, it said. The Japanese delegation would be headed by Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi. The dialogue was initiated in the wake of a fisheries dispute in waters near Japan-controlled Okinotori Atoll in 2016. In April of that year, Japanese authorities detained a Taiwanese fishing vessel near the atoll, which they consider to be an island and therefore entitled to a 200 nautical mile (370.4km) exclusive economic zone. This action was protested by Taiwan. They held their first meeting six months later, with each side agreeing to take turns hosting future gatherings.
TOURISM
Forest railway to resume
The Alishan Forest Railway is to resume mainline services on Saturday, following disruption caused by Typhoon Gaemi last month, the Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office said on Friday. The office suspended mainline and branch-line services on July 23 as a precautionary measure due to the approaching Typhoon Gaemi, which made landfall in northeastern Taiwan at about midnight the following day. Services on the branch lines on Alishan in Chiayi County were brought back on July 29. However, services on the mainline were disrupted by fallen trees, bamboo and rocks at 116 locations, the office said. The railway itself sustained no significant damage, it added. Work to restore the services is expected to be completed on Wednesday, followed by two days of test runs, before the services resume on Saturday, it said. Launched in 1912 for the logging business, the Alishan Forest Railway was only fully reopened on July 6, after 15 years of work repairing damage sustained during Typhoon Morakot in 2009 and the 2015 typhoon season. Booking for the resumed mainline services would be opened online through the office’s Web site at 6am tomorrow.
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)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
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