■ Defense
F-16 makes forced landing
An F-16 fighter on a routine training mission landed at an airport in Taichung yesterday after developing a minor electrical problem. The Air Force Command Headquarters said a generator signal flashed in the fighter, which departed from Hualien air base in eastern Taiwan, on a flight over western Taiwan. It landed safely 20 minutes later at Chingchuankang air base for a checkup. It denied reports that the F-16 had a fuel leak problem before being forced to land. "The pilot followed standard operation procedures and landed at the nearest airfield for a safety check," air force officials said.
■ Weather
Cold snap ends tomorrow
The nation's weather will remain under the influence of a cold front today, the Central Weather Bureau said. The bureau predicted that temperatures will drop to 13?C in the north and 15?C in the south. Bureau officials said that there might be showers in the north and east of the country today and that residents in coastal areas and Hengchun Peninsula should expect unusually strong gusts. Temperatures will begin to rise again tomorrow, though bureau officials said that residents in the north will have a wet weekend. Another cold front is expected to arrive in the middle of next week.
■ Transportation
Kaohsiung MRT free at first
An 8.6km section of the Red Line of Kaohsiung's rapid transit system will begin service in October free of charge, Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) officials said yesterday. The KRTC, which has been rocked by a corruption scandal, said the 12-minute run from R3 station at Hsiaokang's Hanmin Road to R8 station at FE21Mega shopping mall will open to the public at the end of October. The 8.6km ride will eventually cost NT$25. The KRTC said the offer of free rides would not affect its 36-year contract with the city government, which includes six years of construction and 30 years of operating the system. Construction of the network began in 2001. Underground digging is complete except for five tunnels that are scheduled to be completed in April, followed by the laying of track. The KRTC recently suffered a scandal in which former KRTC vice chairman Chen Min-hsien (陳敏賢) and several city officials were indicted on charges of corruption, malfeasance and conflict of interest.
■ Society
Hearing impaired get a hand
The Taipei City Government has since the start of this year offered sign language interpretation services free of charge to residents with hearing disabilities, officials said yesterday. The 24-hour service was launched in cooperation with the Agape Social Welfare Association, according to officials at the city's Department of Social Welfare. The officials said all registered Taipei residents with hearing disabilities can apply for the service with the association provided they do so at least five days before the service is needed. The number to call is 0800-365-224. Officials said that the service is mainly for those living in Taipei City and that if the applicants need to handle business outside of the city, Taipei County is as far as the service reaches. For the out-of-city service, only cases for communication or contact purposes with regard to business, medical visits, schooling or attendance at seminars will be accepted, they said. Official statistics show that there were more than 14,700 hearing-impaired residents in Taipei City as of the end of last year.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard