FOOD SAFETY
FDA to investigate candy
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate “wax candy” products from China that have appeared for sale on Taiwanese shopping sites, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said on Tuesday. The sellers might have contravened the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) as well as the Regulations Governing Trade Between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區貿易許可辦法) if they did not obtain a permit to import the products, Lin said. Information on the e-commerce sites shows that the candies have an outer layer of wax encasing jam or syrup, she said. However, the contents are likely to be processed foods, made with artificial flavors and coloring, she said, adding that the candies raise food safety concerns. People should exercise caution before buying the products because it is uncertain whether they contain illegal additives, she said. People can report suspicious products to their local health bureaus, she added.
Screen grab from Taobao
TRAVEL
Tigerair adds Miyazaki route
Tigerair Taiwan is adding a new route between Taoyuan and Miyazaki, Japan, starting from Nov. 26, the budget carrier said yesterday. The city of about 400,000 on the southern island of Kyushu would be the airline’s 20th destination in Japan, as Tigerair prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its first flight. Miyazaki is a historic city “full of myth,” with shrines including Miyazaki Shrine, Amanoiwato Shrine and Takachiho Shrine, the carrier said. The city also has attractions such as Takachiho Gorge and Sun Messe Nichinan, a park renowned for its seven Moai statues restored with permission from Easter Island, the Taoyuan-based airline said. The carrier would initially offer one weekly round-trip flight for the new route, departing from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 6:30am on Tuesdays, with return flight leaving Miyazaki at 10:10am the same day. To celebrate the new route, the airline said it would also sell one-way tickets from 10am on Thursday to 11:59pm on Friday. Tigerair reported its highest-ever consolidated sales of NT$1.53 billion (US$16.64 million) for last month, up NT$292 million from a year earlier. The number of flights it offered last month rose 20 percent amid a global tourism boom in the post-COVID-19-pandemic era, while the number of flights increased 40 percent in the first eight months of this year compared with the previous year.
TRANSPORTATION
EV charging stations opened
The Freeway Bureau on Tuesday last week announced the completion of fast-charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) at all freeway service areas. That includes 23 fast-charging stations, 85 charging piles and 154 EV parking spaces in 15 service areas and the Eastern Caotun Rest Area. The nationwide charging network was established to meet demand for charging infrastructure amid the rapid growth of EVs, the bureau said in a news release. The facilities were completed in three phases over several years. The 23 fast-charging stations, with a total capacity of more than 27 megawatts, are along highways Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 6, covering the northern, central, southern and eastern parts of Taiwan proper, it said. All the stations are equipped with fast-charging piles with a capacity of 200 kilowatts (kW) or more, with 70 percent offering 350kW to 360kW, enabling quick charging during short rest stops. Drivers can check real-time charging pile availability on the bureau’s Freeway 1968 app.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
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