Latest News: July 4th 2014

A happy 4th of July to our American readers, and a belated happy Canada Day to our Canadian readers. And there is a bit of Canadian focus this week.

Our featured article this week is by Kathleen Purvis who writes about her father’s time as a nuclear technician for Atomic Energy of Canada Limited working in Taiwan in the 1970s. Some lovely photos from the era as well!

And despite the fact that there were happy Canada Day celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan was been added to a list of countries that cannot be invited to Canada Day events organised by the Canadian government. As rather brilliantly reported by the China Post, “… the Canadian representative office in Taipei was unavailable for comment yesterday because it was closed for Canada Day.”

A big black mark for the organisers of the annual mass swim across Sun Moon Lake as they have decided to charge foreigners almost twice as much as Taiwanese swimmers, regardless of whether the foreigners have a resident card. We suggest saving your money from such a blatant rip off and do not attend. It really is a big step back for tourism in Taiwan.

In Taiwan-related news, did you know that Taiwan made fabric has been used to clothe 10 teams at the World Cup? This might not be a surprise, but did you know the cloth is made from recycled plastic bottles?

And finally, divers have discovered the wreck of SS Sobraon off Dongyin Island in Matsu.  Originally built in Scotland, the ship came to its final resting place in 1901. All of the crew and passengers survived, and it looks like the government will protect the remains.

As always, if you have any feedback or comments, please get in touch.

Thanks again for reading, have a great week, and we hope to see you back soon.

Taiwan Ho!