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Today’s biggest stories from around Taiwan.
Taiwan’s national symphony orchestra to perform in Canada and the U.S.
Taiwan’s National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) will perform in Vancouver, Canada and California, U.S. respectively on Dec. 9 and Dec. 12. This is the first time the NSO has performed in North America, state-owned CNA reports. The tour will also see its world premiere of a piece “Last Mile,” which was inspired by legends of the Taiwanese indigenous people. Music director of NSO Lu Shao-chia (呂紹嘉) will conduct the piece, which is composed by Lee Chun-wei (李俊緯).
Taiwanese restaurant chain states support for “one-China”
Taiwanese seafood restaurant chain Hai Pa Wang (海霸王) issued a statement to support the “one-China” policy on China Times this morning. Hai Pa Wang was recently fined in China for mislabeling items, but there have been reports that the company had been fined because its owners had ties to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) family, CNA reports.
In its statement, Hai Pa Wang stated its support for the “one-China” policy and denied claims of connections with Tsai. Lin Chuan (林全), premier of Taiwan, said that politics should not interfere with businesses and that China should stop targeting Taiwanese companies with “political agendas,” United Daily News (UDN) reports. Mainland Affairs Council Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) said that Taiwanese companies in China have huge contributions to China’s economy and should not be “labeled” by the Chinese government.
Taiwan tourism representatives visit Beijing
The Taiwan Visitors Association (TVA) is visiting officials from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office and National Tourism Administration to talk about allowing more Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan and calling for restarting conversations between Taiwanese and Chinese tourism representatives, UDN reports. Taiwan’s Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association and Taiwan Strait Tourism Association, its counterpart in China, used to hold regular talks before President Tsai Ing-wen took office in May.
Representatives from airlines and travel agencies will be joining the TVA in Beijing. Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau said that it approves of the visit and encourages any cross-Strait communication that could benefit the future development of tourism between Taiwan and China.
Senior flying officers retiring to work for private helicopter company?
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) plans to improve medical care for Taiwan’s surrounding islands by signing contracts with a private helicopter company to transfer more patients. The plan requires 12 pilots for the increased flights, and six senior officers from the Air Force have already applied for retirement and registered for licenses to fly commercial planes. Military personnel says that the heavy workload of the officers and being held responsible for their subordinates’ mistakes are what caused the officers to take such action, UDN reports.
Editor: Olivia Yang