The cold air mass hovering over the country is bringing with it strong winds that are mixing dust particles in the air, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said, adding that those with respiratory and heart diseases should avoid performing strenuous activities outdoors.
“Starting on Nov. 27, Taiwan has been under the influence of a strong cold air mass and temperatures have been dropping,” said Chu Yu-chi (朱雨其), director-general of the EPA’s department of environmental protection monitoring and information management. “Combined with a strong northeastern seasonal wind, dust particles are being blown into the air and affecting areas in central and southern Taiwan.”
On Friday, the pollution standard index (PSI) in Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan counties was at more than 100 and fell into the “poor” category as monitored by the administration, which meant the air was unhealthy for human health and could cause sneezing, coughing, eye irritation and aggravations of chronic heart or lung ailments, Chu said.
On the same day, a record-high pollutant particle concentration was recorded in Yunlin County at 743 micrograms per cubic meter, Chu said, adding that the value was eight to 10 times normal. Though the PSI in the area marginally subsided to 91 yesterday — bringing it in the realm of acceptable health — the polluted air seemed to have shifted southward to Kaohsiung and Pingtung, where a PSI of 104 was recorded at 3pm, the EPA Web site said.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
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