■ Society
Law trumps feng shui
A Taiwanese man has been sentenced to four months in jail for cutting down more than 40 trees at an apartment complex, claiming they would undermine the feng shui of his nearby house, a newspaper said yesterday. Feng shui is the Chinese practice of geomancy, in which objects and spaces are arranged to supposedly achieve harmony with the environment. The Taipei District Court convicted "feng shui expert" Lo Pu-yi (羅蒲逸) of cutting down the trees in an apartment complex next to his home on a hill in suburban Taipei, the Apple Daily reported. It said Lo's neighbors had accused him of cutting down the banyan and willow trees, as well as bamboo, saying the foliage blocked the flow of air and could undermine his livelihood. A separate court will handle his neighbors' claim for NT$400,000 (US$12,000) in damages, the paper said. Lo could not be reached for comment.
■ Health
CDC announces flight rule
A new regulation is slated to take effect as early as September that will bar people in the infectious phase of tuberculosis from taking flights that are longer than eight hours in duration. "This is a measure to protect the other passengers on the aircraft," Director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said. Infectious tuberculosis patients will be able to fly on flights shorter than eight hours as long as they wear a face mask. Taiwan is taking its cue from WHO standards in determining the eight-hour cut-off point, Kuo said. "If a patient follows the suggestions for treatment of tuberculosis, he or she should only be infectious for two weeks or so," CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ding (林頂) said. "In the meantime, they can still travel provided they adjust their itinerary to take shorter flights," Lin said.
■ Crime
Father dies, riddle remains
Yin Duo (尹鐸), the father of murdered navy captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), died yesterday with his wish of uncovering the truth behind his son's death still unfulfilled. The infamous Yin murder, associated with the Lafayette frigate procurement scandal, remains unsolved after 14 years. Yin is widely believed to have been about to blow the whistle on colleagues who were taking kickbacks from the deal. Since Yin Ching-feng's death in late 1993, Yin Duo has been traveling around the country and collecting information to try and solve the mystery of his son's death, but to no avail. Yin Duo was admitted to Minsheng hospital in Taoyuan last Thursday with a brain hemorrhage. He passed away yesterday, aged 86. Yin Ching-feng's widow, Li Mei-kuei (李美葵), said that her husband died before his son's murder could be solved would remain a lifelong regret for the family.
■ Weather
Cold front approaching
An approaching cold front is expected to send temperatures in most of Taiwan to below 10?C over the next three days starting tomorrow, according to a forecast by the Central Weather Bureau. Meteorologists said that northeastern Taiwan and areas north of Tainan, as well as the outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu, could experience temperatures as low as 7?C between tomorrow and Monday. The mercury is expected to rise slightly from Tuesday but parts of Taiwan could still have early morning temperatures down to 10?C or lower until next Friday. The bureau warned aquaculturists to take preventive measures against cold weather losses.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
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