SPORTS
Ethiopian runners win
Ethiopia’s Gadise Mulu Demissie set a new women’s record at the New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon yesterday, with compatriot Masresha Bere Bisetegn coming out top in the men’s race. Demissie finished in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 25 seconds, breaking fellow Ethiopian Bekelech Gudeta Borecha’s 2023 course record by 12 seconds. Bisetegn’s time of 2:13:47 was 4 minutes and 16 seconds slower than the men’s record set by Kenya’s Cyrus Kipkemboi Mutai last year. Chou Ting-yin (周庭印) was the top Taiwanese in the men’s race, placing ninth with a time of 2:26:18. Joymei Lee (李佳玫) was the fastest Taiwanese in the women’s race, finishing eighth with a time of 2:57:03. The organizers said 11,000 runners from 31 countries took part in the marathon and the shorter challenge runs. The annual race features a route along the city’s northeast coast.
Photo: Chen Yi-shan, Taipei Times
TRANSPORT
Railway chair resigns
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications on Saturday confirmed that Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) chairman Du Wei (杜微) has tendered his resignation, citing plans for his personal career. Du, 65, said that he had served the railway for 40 years and was ready to spend more time with his family. Du started as an intern at Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), when it was a government agency, and was its last director. When TRA was corporatized in January last year, Du was appointed chairman. Shortly before TRA’s corporatization, Du said that the company could shed its short-term debts by next year and turn a profit by 2028. However, TRC suffered record losses of NT$13.8 billion (US$418.8 million) last year, while its on-time performance rate was 93.5 percent, falling short of the expected 97 percent.
ENTERTAINMENT
Cinema veteran passes
Veteran cinematographer Lin Tsan-ting (林贊庭) has passed away at the age of 94, Taiwan’s Chinese Society of Cinematographers (CSC) said on Saturday. Lin died on Friday at Taipei’s Tri-Service General Hospital, where he was admitted after having a heart attack, the CSC said. Lin received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 58th Golden Horse Awards in 2021 alongside director Tsai Yang-ming (蔡揚名). The late cinematographer, best known for working on Taiwanese Hoklo films, was the first cinematographer to receive the award. He began his career in 1949 as one of the first apprentices at Agriculture Education Motion Pictures, which evolved into the Central Motion Picture Corp in 1954. Learning from techniques used in Japan, Lin helped to transition Taiwan’s film industry to color, the committee said. Over the years, Lin worked on more than 130 films and won four Golden Horse Awards for Best Cinematography.
ENTERTAINMENT
Martial arts star passes
Former martial arts actor Chang Chen-huan (張振寰) has passed away at the age of 65. Chang’s body was found on Friday by authorities responding to reports of a strong odor emanating from a home in Taipei, police said. Preliminary investigations ruled out third-party involvement in Chang’s passing, police said, adding that details of his death have yet to be established. Chang rose to prominence in the Taiwanese movie scene since his debut in 1976 in a fantasy film. Since then, the veteran actor specialized in action roles in fantasy movies and television shows, as well as period pieces in the wuxia (武俠, martial arts) genre, before roles dried up for him due to his age.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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