The Central Weather Bureau was scheduled to issue a sea alert late last night for Typhoon Meranti, which is threatening southern Taiwan, and it could not rule out the possibility of issuing a land alert this morning.
Meranti picked up strength at about 2pm yesterday, when its center was 1,000km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving northwest toward the coast of the Hengchun Peninsula at 22kph, the bureau said.
With a radius of 200km, the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of about 183.6kph and gusts of up to 226.8kph, bureau data show.
The typhoon’s circumfluence could affect the weather in Taiwan today, with chances of showers being high in eastern, northern and southern regions as well as the mountainous area in the center of the nation, forecaster Lin Ding-yi (林定宜) said.
Heavy rain is expected tonight, but the nation would feel Meranti’s effects more strongly tomorrow and Thursday morning, particularly residents in southern and eastern Taiwan, he said.
Based on the bureau’s projected path for Meranti, the typhoon’s eye would probably not make landfall in Taiwan.
However, it would pass through the sea very close to the southwest coast of the Hengchun Peninsula before moving west toward China.
The Maritime Port Bureau said that 28 shipping services are scheduled to be canceled today and tomorrow, with most of them operating off the east coast between Orchid Island (蘭嶼, also known as Lanyu) and Green Island (綠島).
In addition, a charter ship service between Taichung and Kinmen County, scheduled for 11pm tomorrow, will be canceled, the Kinmen County government said.
National Dong Hwa University in Hualien County also announced yesterday that tomorrow’s classes will be canceled, while administrative staff will not have to work past noon.
Apart from Meranti, there are two tropical depressions that have the potential of turning into tropical storms, the bureau said.
One is located near the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) and is moving northwest at 15kph, the bureau said. That depression is forecast to move toward Indochina after turning into a tropical storm and is less likely to affect Taiwan, it said.
The path of the other depression, which was west of Guam and moving northwest at 20kph, would have to be determined after further observation, as it is still about 2,000km from Taiwan, the bureau said.
Additional reporting by CNA
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft