Heavy traffic congestion expected over National Day long weekend.

Heavy traffic congestion expected over National Day long weekend.

2022-09-30

The Directorate General of Highways is expecting heavy traffic this year over the National Day long weekend. The directorate says it expects cars to start flooding Taiwan’s roads on Friday afternoon before the long weekend starts. Congestion and heavy traffic is likely at major arteries, highway on-ramps and off-ramps, and roads near scenic spots.

To encourage more people to use public transport, the directorate has also launched a series of discounts. From Oct. 7 to Oct. 10, travelers can get discounts of up to 15% on coaches of 86 mid-and-long-distance routes. There are also discounts for local bus services, for passengers transferring from the HSR, TRA and intercity coaches. Transfer within 10 hours, and you can get a reduced base fare.

車潮比去年還多! 國慶連假搭客運享優惠

2022-09-30

國慶3天連假即將到來，公路總局預估，今年連假車潮將比去年還多，連假前一天下午就會開始湧現車潮，省道易壅塞路段包括地區的主要幹道、銜接高速公路路段和觀光風景區鄰近路段。

為了鼓勵民眾多搭乘公共運輸，公路總局也推出多項客運優惠，從10/7到10/10，86條中長途國道客運路線享平日優惠或85折，搭乘高鐵、臺鐵或國道客運在10小時內轉乘在地客運，享一段票或基本里程免費優惠。

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Navy takes delivery of first homemade landing platform dock or LPD

After four years of construction, Taiwan’s first made-in-Taiwan landing platform dock, or a LPD was formally delivered to the navy. The 10,000-ton ship named the ROCN Yushan can transport a variety of amphibious vehicles and will be crucial in defense of Taiwan’s outlying islands, should a war break out. President Tsai Ing-wen and Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng both boarded the Yushan. The president said the ship’s construction was an important milestone for domestically made vessels.

The Taiwanese flag slowly rises, symbolizing that Taiwan’s first made-in-Taiwan landing platform dock of 10,000 tons has been handed over to the navy.

President Tsai Ing-wen, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng and other officials boarded the LPD named ROCN Yushan and waved to everyone from the deck. They took the event seriously, as for Taiwan, the ROCN Yushan marks a major milestone in Taiwanese shipbuilding.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
In the future during peacetime, the ROCN Yushan can be used to supply materials and personnel to the outlying islands. If a disaster occurs, it can also be used for relief and emergency medical treatments. In wartime, it can carry specially-assigned troops deployed as amphibious reinforcements.

The ROCN Yushan has a length of 153 meters with a displacement of 10,600 tons and a range of 12,500 nautical miles. It can easily travel to Taiwan’s outlying islands. The LPD can transport AAV-7 amphibious assault vehicles, five mechanized landing vehicles, Humvee military vehicles on top of more than 250 armed soldiers. In peacetime, it can be used for disaster relief, international humanitarian aid and can act as a field hospital. In wartime, it will be responsible for amphibious operations and recapturing outlying islands. It can carry 32 Sky Sword II missiles and has strong anti-aircraft firepower.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
In the face of China’s military threats, we can only have a real peace if we strengthen our own defense capabilities. We need to enforce defense autonomy, so that our military can have the best equipment when defending our country. This is our unwavering resolve and policy.

President Tsai stressed the importance of Taiwan having the ability to build its own war vessels. If China were to attack Taiwan’s outlying islands, now that the ROCN Yushan is in the picture, Taiwan has more options in fighting back.

2022-09-30

DPP mayoral candidate for New Taipei shares plans for city transport

The DPP’s mayoral candidate for New Taipei Lin Chia-lung gave a campaign presentation Friday about his transportation plans for the city. The former transport minister says he wants to increase the integration of New Taipei’s public transport networks with that of Taoyuan, Taipei and Keelung. Some of his ideas include monthly transport passes that can be used in the four localities, as well as a new MRT project.

Lin Chia-lung
New Taipei mayoral candidate (DPP)
I will continue the work that I did as transport minister in planning a transport network for New Taipei. Here is my presentation.

The DPP’s mayoral candidate for New Taipei Lin Chia-lung on Friday spoke about his proposal for an integrated transport system in Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung and Taoyuan.

Lin Chia-lung
New Taipei mayoral candidate (DPP)
There are always bottlenecks in the 52 bridges leading to and from Taipei, especially during rush hour. If you want to take the MRT, it takes a long time and it’s a long way as you have to take a detour through Taipei to get to other parts of New Taipei. There are 10 million people living in the exburbs around the capital. Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung and Taoyuan each have their own governments.

Wang Yi-chuan
Lin Chia-lung’s campaign office
Ridership on the Danhai light rail operated by the New Taipei Metro Corporation is just 20% of the estimated ridership in the original plans submitted to the transport ministry. That’s just one fifth. The system loses more than NT$100 million every year. In its three years of operations, accumulated losses exceed NT$500 million.

Lin put forward proposals to improve traffic in Northern Taiwan, by integrating the transport networks of Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung and Taoyuan, even proposing
monthly transport passes for the entire area. Lin says New Taipei residents have had to make do with few MRT connections, and heavy traffic on national highways, freeways and interchanges. He says incorporating smart technology could mark a new chapter in New Taipei’s transport history.

Lin Chia-lung
New Taipei mayoral candidate (DPP)
We want to build a new MRT line that connects both sides of the Dahan River. That would link up a population of about 3 million people, creating an urban center in New Taipei. It would go through Banqiao, Xinzhuang and Sanchong. That way, that triangle would be like the egg yolk of New Taipei. They would no longer be Taipei’s satellite cities.

With the municipal elections fast approaching on Nov. 26, Lin was keen to share his vision.

2022-09-30

Twins born from Taiwan’s first successful round spermatid injection

Taipei Veterans General Hospital held a press conference Friday to announce the birth of Taiwan’s first babies born from round spermatid injections. Round spermatids are immature sperm cells, which typically lack the necessary apparatus to move and fertilize egg cells. Thanks to the advanced fertilization procedure, a couple now has a pair of healthy twin girls.

They hold up their twin daughters. It’s a picture of pure joy.

Father
There is nothing but gratitude in my heart. I really had lost all hope of having children, as I was already in my 40s.

Married for two years, the couple had been trying to conceive with no success. The now-father had been even diagnosed with azoospermia. A team of medical experts from Taipei Veterans General Hospital later discovered that his sperm cells were not developing past the round spermatid stage. As such, they lacked tails, which made fertilization a difficult task.

Huang Chih-hsien
Taipei Veterans General Hospital
In the third stage of spermatogenesis, the round spermatids change shape. The head becomes smaller and they grow a tail. That’s how they grow into mature sperm cells that are able to move. Before this stage, spermatids are not able to move or fertilize egg cells.

Previous studies conducted abroad found a fertilization rate of just 38.7% after round spermatid injections. Live birth rates were as low as 2.4% due to chromosomal abnormalities. In the case of the Taiwan couple, doctors collected the father’s sperm three times and egg cells from the mother twice. Through microinjections of round spermatids, they were able to obtain eight embryos, finally resulting in pregnancy.

Huang Chih-hsien
Taipei Veterans General Hospital
Round spermatid cells look very similar to other cells. It’s very hard to tell them apart. A very difficult part is getting the ovum and the sperm to bond, as this process requires movement. Normal, mature sperm cells are able to move. But round spermatids do not have this ability.

Thanks to advancements in medical technology, the couple was able to conceive, Taiwan’s first pair of twins born from round spermatid cells.

2022-09-30

Taipower unveils renovated Jinguashi Shinto shrine in New Taipei

One of Taiwan’s oldest Shinto shrines is now open again after a major revamp. The shrine at Jinguashi in New Taipei was established by Japanese officials in 1898. Taipower has owned the land since the 1980s. The shrine has already been through five renovations, and the latest has turned it into a perfect tourist destination. Let’s head to the mountains of Jiufen for more.

A row of stones form a Japanese-style torii, or sacred gate. Unlike many torii which are painted an extravagant red, this torii in Jinguashi town in Jiufen is all greyscale, creating a calm and reflective atmosphere. The shrine has been empty for five years. After a renovation by Taipower, it’s back to its former majesty.

Tourist
It used to be more dangerous here. It had never been renovated. It was easy to fall while walking here.

In the late 80s, when Taiwan’s mining industries declined, and Taiwan Metals Mining Company closed down, its cultural assets in New Taipei’s Ruifang瑞芳 were given to Taipower. In 2019, an exhibition and light ceremony called “Light up 13 Layer Remains” brought international attention to the heritage sites here. Then Taipower decided to act, focusing on renovating the shrine at Jinguashi.

Chen Shih-cheng
Miner
There used to be grasses all between the pillars. I used to come and pull up the grasses. I think it’s a beautiful thing and very historical. There are more and more hikers here.

Jinguashi shrine was first built in 1898 and altered in 1936. With 124 years’ history, it is Taiwan’s third oldest Shinto shrine. Once a major spiritual site for local people, it was destroyed in World War II. In 2007 it was named an official historical heritage site of New Taipei, although only a few traces of the original shrine remain, such as the torii and stone lanterns.

Tseng Wen-sheng
Taipower provisional chair
The pandemic in 2020 gave us an opportunity to start to consider whether we could do something more, in the gap where there were not quite so many visitors.

With the renovation complete, more memories are also emerging of the long-closed gold mine. Taipower welcomes visitors to Jiufen to appreciate its uniquely Taiwanese stories and history.

2022-09-30

CECC says it plans to loosen post-infection self-health management rules next

Taiwan will end travel quarantines on Oct. 13. Now the question on many people’s minds is what’s coming next? CECC officials say the next item on the agenda could be to ease self-health management rules for people infected with COVID. Though some health experts say the CECC could disband soon, government officials say there is still much to do, as Taiwan is currently at the height of a COVID wave. Taiwan reported 43,280 local COVID infections on Friday, a rise of 8.8% from the previous week. It also reported 225 imported COVID cases and 50 deaths.

Chou Jih-haw
CECC
Numbers are still going up. We’re still at the peak of the wave.

Local COVID cases continue to soar, but the government is going ahead with its loosening of COVID restrictions. Travel quarantines will be removed starting Oct. 13, and government officials say rules for infected individuals may be loosened soon.

Victor Wang
CECC
It should be seven plus N, with N being less than or equal to seven. Experts say that after a person tests negative, they shouldn’t need to continue with self-health management.

As COVID restrictions are lifted, one after the other, will the CECC disband soon?

Huang Li-min
NTU Children’s Hospital
After this wave of the epidemic passes, Taiwan could consider not reporting daily infection tallies. Instead they could announce the number of people with severe symptoms and our medical capacity available. The CDC could also reclassify COVID as a Category 4 Communicable Disease. That way, it can be treated as a regional disease and its management can be administered by the CDC. I think that by the end of October, if we don’t have any major issues, at the end of October or early November, we can reclassify it as a Category 4 Communicable Disease. Then, the CECC can be disbanded. They’ve been working very hard over the past three years. It’s been very tough for them.

Hsueh Jui-yuan
Health minister
On Oct. 13, we will abolish border restrictions. But that doesn’t mean that COVID is at a low point in Taiwan. The CECC still has a lot of things to do. Probably it won’t be disbanded so soon. For whether COVID will be downgraded from being a Category 5 Communicable Disease to a Category 4 Communicable Disease, that will depend on the international situation internationally and the development of the disease.

Su Tseng-chang
Premier
We’re in the final stage of the pandemic. It’s like a tunnel. We can already see the light at the end of it. If the situation doesn’t worsen, the CECC can relax a little.

Health officials say that a potential downgrade of the CECC depends on four major factors: daily case numbers, moderate-to-severe case numbers, the emergence of more dangerous variants and severity of COVID compared with the seasonal flu.

2022-09-30

Shoppers few and far between on Ximen’s Cinema Street

Ximending has long been synonymous with shopping heaven. Before COVID-19, the western Taipei district was full of leisure venues and shopping opportunities that appealed to foreign tourists as well as young people from all over the country. Now with foreign visitors gone, the district has been in crisis. Many storefronts are vacant, and shoppers say it’s not the bustling destination it used to be. Today we visit Cinema Street, a place once known to be a center for popular culture in the capital.

Tang Shih-ching
FTV reporter
Cinema Street in Ximen used to be a key hub of Taipei’s entertainment market. But after the impact of COVID, here on Wuchang Street Section 2, it’s more like a disaster zone, a major casualty in Ximen’s retail crisis.

Big red “Venue for Rent” banners stand over the empty stores. Young people strolling Cinema Street say more stores are empty than open.

Member of public
I do feel it when I walk down here. There are lots of stores closed.

Member of public
It doesn’t feel as lively as it used to. I came here once before.

Member of public
I work here. Lots of stores say they’re up for rent. It has declined. The economy isn’t as good as it was.

There are just a few shoppers wandering the quiet streets. Stores here tend to open later and later in the morning. Once up a time, there was a constant hubbub created with people visiting the Eslite Department Store, Lux Cinema or in89 Cinema. But no more. On this corner spot sits a claw machine arcade; for more than a decade it was a gold merchant, which shut down earlier this year. Over just a few hundred meters, more than 25 store fronts are festooned with “For Rent” signs. All in all, half the stores are empty.

Huang Shu-wei
Real estate expert
Whether it’s because of the pandemic, or the limits that were put on entertainment venues last year during the Level 3 Alert, we can see that the number of visitors to Cinema Street has fallen greatly. Lots of stores in good locations have closed. In the slightly less popular shopping areas back there, the rate of disuse of the stores is more than half.

In the heyday of Cinema Street, the going rent for one ping of retail space could be NT$3,000 a month or more. But post-COVID, one ping goes for NT$1,500 or NT$2,000 a month. Retailers are now longing for borders to reopen to tourists as their only hope to rebuild the shopping paradise that once was.

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