President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday inspected the Central Emergency Operations Center ahead of Typhoon Nepartak’s landfall, urging all government agencies to be on full alert.
After arriving at the center in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) in the afternoon, the premier expressed concern about the impact that the typhoon might have.
“I am worried, as it looks like the typhoon will have the most serious impact during the night, and it will be more difficult to deal with any incident if it occurs during the night,” Lin told Cabinet representatives at the center, including Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), the center’s chief commander.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
“We must stay in close contact with local governments throughout the night, so we can get first-hand information immediately, and provide rescue and assistance when problems occur,” the premier said.
Lin also asked the center to follow up with local governments on evacuations of residents in vulnerable areas.
The Council of Agriculture said “yellow” and “red” alerts for mudslides have been issued for 300 rivers and creeks in New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hsinchu, Nantou and Hualien counties.
Evacuations of more than 1,000 people living in the potentially dangerous areas were ongoing at press time last night, with the help of the military.
Taiwan Power Co (台電) estimates that as many as 3.1 million households might suffer power failures due to the storm, adding that it is prepared for immediate response to any such outages.
The president arrived about an hour after Lin, promising the public that the government would make maximum efforts to safeguard lives and public property, while asking those on the front line to stay safe.
“Evacuations are very important. I would like to ask everyone to take this seriously, as the typhoon is coming right at us,” Tsai said. “I know some people might not want to leave their homes, but when a decision [on evacuating] has been made, just go ahead and carry it out. I would like to ask our local governments and elected representatives to help convince people to leave to avoid greater damage.”
“We have to carefully face the situation in the coming 24 hours,” Tsai added.
Responding to the president’s call, Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) said that the armed forces are fully prepared, and would regard rescue missions as battles.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2