Island-hopping cruises to link Taiwan to South Korea and the Philippines

Island-hopping cruises to link Taiwan to South Korea and the Philippines

2023-02-22

A new cruise project aims to link Taiwan up with its island neighbors, including the Philippines and South Korea. The project will provide international island-hopping ferry services, between Taiwan’s outlying islands and nearby friends. The Maritime and Port Bureau is working with Filipino and Korean counterparts to develop the plan. Deputy Minister of Transportation, Chi Wen-jong, hopes it will rejuvenate Taiwanese tourism in the booming post-pandemic period.

A family trip on a ferry. They can gaze out on a wide blue sea from their cabins. For travelers who aren’t satisfied with ferries between Taiwan’s islands, the new island-hopper ferries will shuttle travelers between different countries in Asia. It’s a collaboration between the Maritime and Port Bureau, South Korea and the Philippines.

Chi Wen-jong
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications
The island-hopper can take you to many different islands to enjoy different cultures. And for this project in particular we think it will be a transnational itinerary over island chains.

Lin Fu-shun
Korea International Cruise Institute
The island chains of Asia will be anchor points, so international cruise passengers can experience the classic, unique cultures of island chains from diverse Asian countries.

A passenger gets off the ferry on a bike to enjoy the island culture. Returning to the ship, there’s haute cuisine and entertainment from onboard performances. Located in the center of the First Island Chain, Taiwan is perfectly placed for international cruises between Asia’s Pacific islands. The Maritime and Port Bureau even plans to link East Asia with ferries between the Kinmen Marathon and Penghu Fireworks Festival. In 2023, there are 96 cruises scheduled to anchor in Taiwan, 36 of which have a home-port in Taiwan.

Chi Wen-jong
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications
The cruise will be a way to form an alliance, and to provide services in concert. Island-hopping cruises give you the chance to experience different countries, and the differences in their natural ecologies, cultures and folk customs. I think that’s a big selling point.

Post-COVID, the global travel market is in renaissance. The transport ministry hopes this cruise project will be a way to synergize with Taiwan’s neighbors - a tourist resource that will draw in visitors from near and far.

瞄準郵輪商機! 台.菲.韓成立跳島郵輪亞洲隊

2023-02-22

後疫情時代旅遊市場也逐漸復甦。為振興郵輪旅遊產業，航港局跨國和菲律賓、韓國，簽署亞洲跳島郵輪聯盟(AACA)意向書，期待發揮產業群聚效益，吸引國際郵輪來靠泊，並持續串聯東亞島鏈的郵輪航程。不只迎接全球郵輪市場，也要推廣臺灣的離島觀光。

帶著心愛家人登上郵輪，從房間看出去美麗海景一覽無遺。國內跳島不夠看，瞄準疫後的郵輪商機，航港局跨國與菲律賓、韓國結盟，攜手成立跳島郵輪亞洲隊。

[[交通部次長祁文中]]
"透過跳島的方式，可以呈現不同島嶼、不同特色，尤其這次的作法，我們認為要透過島鏈的方式跨國來做"

[[韓國國際郵輪研究所院長林福順]]
"亞洲各國島嶼鏈，作為靠泊目的地，使國際郵輪遊客得以體驗亞洲地區各國島嶼鏈的經典特色"

牽著腳踏車下船，就能開始體驗島嶼風情。回到郵輪船上，盡情享受精彩美食、表演秀。台灣位於亞洲鏈中心，郵輪的跳島行程也要國際化。航港局還要進一步，串聯東亞區域的跳島航線，包括金門馬拉松、澎湖花火節，未來也可能結合郵輪行程。今年就有96航次郵輪來台靠港，其中36航次以台灣作為母港。

[[交通部次長祁文中]]
"郵輪變成是一個大家聯盟的方式，共同提供服務，透過跳島可以讓大家感覺不同國家之間，自然生態、人文、民族文化有哪些不一樣，我相信這是一個很大的賣點"

隨著全球旅遊市場復甦，透過跨國跳島合作結盟，整合國際觀光資源，航向郵輪市場的新藍海。

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They step into a narrow space, open fire on a target, and destroy the enemy fighters in less than 10 seconds.

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Hsiung Chi-sheng
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We’re teaching Military History Education, so that more citizens can understand the country as well as the equipment we use.

A private company offers these classes in the hope of spreading military knowledge among Taiwan’s population. They use imitation weapons which are almost exactly the same weight as real guns, and all kinds of equipment, in their combat training classes. They also display samples of weaponry from the Taiwanese, Chinese and U.S. armies, so students can learn to distinguish Taiwan’s army from potential invaders. Finally, they teach military history, and employ this retired U.S. Army officer as a teacher.

Richard Limon
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What you can learn from U.S. troops is combat training and medical training. In that respect, in my own opinion, I think it’s more useful, because that also gives more time to train the troops and get them ready for a potential fight.

Lee Cheng-ling
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Taiwan needs to join up with the training system of NATO, because this is very important. The battles of the future will certainly be fought by alliances. There may be armies from other countries that might be fighting in Taiwan. You have to form an alliance. So in the same way you need to connect up with foreign armies in your training.

Lu Tzu-hao
Volunteer soldier in Ukraine War
The army needs to train everyone more in how to handle an individual weapon. Because in Ukraine, at the start, we were all using individual weapons. We were all trained in Stingers and missiles. It’s just we don’t know if the national weapons reserve is big enough. You can also train with virtual reality. We all had training of that kind.

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Type in some key words, and ChatGPT gets to work writing an essay at once. Some Taiwanese high school students are starting to use ChatGPT to write their coursework. It sometimes does a better job than they can.

Ms. Lin
High school student
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Ms. Lee
High school student
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Lee Chi-lung
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ChatGPT is something like a sample manufacturer; but it leaves out lots of details. We want young people to get to grips with the applications of technology, not to make inappropriate use of it, but to establish the correct attitude toward its use. That’s the goal we tend to have in educational settings.

Universities are taking action. Hong Kong Univeristy has banned the use of ChatGPT or any other AI tool, in exams or in homework. National Taiwan University says that next term it will produce guidelines on the use of ChatGPT for students and staff. National Tsing Hua University has a special working group looking into AI’s impact on teaching and learning.

Lee Chi-lung
NTNU Affiliated Senior High
Even if you ban it, it is impossible to completely prevent situations like that. Instead, we must use educational and evaluative tools to monitor students on more levels, and help them to grow.

Here’s a new essay title. “The functional and dysfunctional uses of AI in education.” You have one hour, you may begin.

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He scoops up a generous portion of ice cream, puts it in the cone, and then hands me an ice cream cone before quickly pulling the cone away.

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Kemal Demir
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The city I am from is where the ice cream originated from. I came to Taiwan 23 years ago, and I am now 63 years old. Taiwanese people are nice, and everyone will say “hello” to you. It’s all handmade, and it takes around five hours to make ice cream like this.

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Kemal Demir
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I will go next month. Many of my relatives and friends have passed away. I’m quite upset. But, many people in Taiwan have come here to buy things, and I am very grateful for their help. They encouraged me and tell me to keep going, which makes me very happy. Thanks, Taiwan.

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