■ EARTHQUAKES
Quake off Ilan County
A 5.3-magnitude temblor struck off the east coast of Ilan County early yesterday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The quake hit at 3:41am and was centered 99km southeast of Suao, the USGS said. It struck at a depth of 10km.
■EVENTS
Michael Nobel in Taiwan
Michael Nobel, a great grand nephew of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize awards, will come to Taiwan to take part in a forum on energy-saving awareness and carbon dioxide-reducing initiatives. Nobel, who will deliver a speech during the forum tomorrow at the Grand Hotel in Taipei, is expected to share his perspectives on building energy-management platforms for higher energy efficiency and developing alternative energies, said the Taiwan Architecture and Building Center, one of the two sponsors of the forum. The 68-year-old Nobel, a citizen of Sweden and Switzerland, has international scientific and commercial experience in fields such as life sciences, satellite communications, Internet services for finances and investment, information management and crisis management. He participated in the introduction of magnetic resonance imaging at Fonar Corp in 1980 and has since maintained his interest in the field. He is also a chief executive officer of a group of companies that perform diagnostic imaging services. In addition, he is on the board of 12 international companies in diagnostics, treatment, investments and information systems in the medical field.
■SOCIETY
Make your wedding legal
Couples were urged yesterday to register to make their marriage legal under new marriage regulations that will come into force later this month. Under an amendment to the Civil Code taking effect on May 23, marriages will only be legal after the newlyweds register with local household registration offices, said Yang Yi-teh (楊義德), director of the Taipei County Bureau of Civil Affairs. In other words, Yang said, a marriage will not be considered legal if one partner fails to register with the authorities for any reason, even if they were married in a public wedding or at a ceremony witnessed by a judge or a notary. Yang said couples should register their marriages before the wedding ceremony takes place. Registrations can be made via telephone, the Internet or in writing.
■DEFENSE
Nation ready to buy F-16s
Taiwan is ready to buy 60 F-16C/D aircraft from the US and will pass the budget for the purchase as soon as Washington approves the sale, a lawmaker said yesterday. Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), a member of the legislature’s Diplomacy and National Defense Committee, made the remarks in response to a report by the Chinese-language China Times that said a US official would visit later this month to persuade president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to approve the purchase. Lin said the newspaper was wrong as the legislature had already passed the budget, but later froze it “to save face” because the US kept delaying the sale. “So as soon as the US approves the sale, we will un-freeze the budget. This has nothing to do with whether Ma approves or disapproves the purchase,” he said. “Actually, with the exception of the eight submarines, the legislature has approved the budget for the other major arms purchases from the US,” he said. Taiwan is seeking to buy 12 P-3C marine patrol, eight diesel-electric submarines, six PAC-III anti-missile batteries and 60 F-16s.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
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