DIPLOMACY
New EU envoy takes office
Newly appointed EU Representative Lutz Guellner has taken office, the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) said on social media on Wednesday. Despite being geographically distant, “Taiwan and the EU are like-minded partners,” Guellner was quoted as saying. “We want to further strengthen our friendly relations and close cooperation with Taiwan,” said Guellner, who assumed his role as the head of the EETO on Sunday. Guellner, who previously served in the European External Action Service as the head of the Division for Strategic Communications, Task Forces and Information Analysis, was tapped as the new EU envoy in April. Taiwan is the career diplomat’s first posting outside Brussels, the EETO said. He succeeded Filip Grzegorzewski, who departed from his position in July after a five-year stint.
TRAVEL
AirAsia unveils Sabah flights
AirAsia is to begin offering four weekly flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from Kaohsiung to Sabah (Kota Kinabalu) from Nov. 17, the low-cost carrier announced yesterday. Tickets are now available, making it the only direct flight between Kaohsiung and the East Malaysian state of Sabah, AirAsia said in a statement. AirAsia Taiwan marketing manager Wang Mu-fan (王慕凡) said that Sabah is known for its stunning natural beauty and cultural diversity, offering attractions such as Mount Kinabalu, tropical rainforests, world-class diving, and a rich fusion of Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisine, promising an unforgettable experience for southern Taiwanese travelers, Wang said. AirAsia is offering promotional one-way fares starting at NT$399 for flights between Nov. 17 and March 28 next year, which can be booked until Sept. 15. The route is AirAsia’s 12th in Taiwan.
SOCIETY
Factory fire extinguished
Forty-five vehicles and 77 firefighters were dispatched to put out a factory fire in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林) yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it dispatched firefighters to subdue the flames at a two-story factory unit on Xizun Street after receiving a report at 12:23pm. Thick, billowing smoke was reportedly seen as far away as New Taipei City Hall in Banciao District (板橋). The blaze was brought under control at 1:25pm and fully extinguished at 1:35pm, a social media post by the department said. No one was killed or injured in the fire, the cause of which had yet to be determined. The department urged residents living near the burning factory to temporarily close the doors and windows of their homes, and wear surgical masks when going outside to reduce the risk of respiratory and eye discomfort.
CULTURE
Choir to hold four concerts
The Vienna Boys’ Choir is to perform in Taiwan next month featuring a repertoire that includes Taiwanese rock band Mayday’s song Contentment (知足), organizer Ars Formosa Co Ltd said on Wednesday. The Vienna Boys’ Choir, which is made up of four separate choirs named after famous Austrian composers, is set to send its Haydn Choir to Taiwan, Ars Formosa head Chou Tun-rern (周敦仁) told a news conference at the National Theater in Taipei. The Haydn Choir would be led by Hong Kong conductor Jimmy Chiang (曾智斌). The choir is to hold four concerts: on Oct. 17 at Tainan Cultural Center, on Oct. 18 at National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) Concert Hall, on Oct. 22 at the National Concert Hall in Taipei and on Oct. 23 at Taipei Zhongshan Hall.
GREAT POWER COMPETITION: Beijing views its military cooperation with Russia as a means to push back against the joint power of the US and its allies, an expert said A recent Sino-Russian joint air patrol conducted over the waters off Alaska was designed to counter the US military in the Pacific and demonstrated improved interoperability between Beijing’s and Moscow’s forces, a national security expert said. National Defense University associate professor Chen Yu-chen (陳育正) made the comment in an article published on Wednesday on the Web site of the Journal of the Chinese Communist Studies Institute. China and Russia sent four strategic bombers to patrol the waters of the northern Pacific and Bering Strait near Alaska in late June, one month after the two nations sent a combined flotilla of four warships
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
‘LEADERS’: The report highlighted C.C. Wei’s management at TSMC, Lisa Su’s decisionmaking at AMD and the ‘rock star’ status of Nvidia’s Huang Time magazine on Thursday announced its list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI), which included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) and AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰). The list is divided into four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Wei and Huang were named in the Leaders category. Other notable figures in the Leaders category included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Su was listed in the Innovators category. Time highlighted Wei’s
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi