■ ENVIRONMENT
Moderate quake hits south
A moderate 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck central Taiwan yesterday. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The Central Weather Bureau said the quake struck at 1:17am yesterday. It was centered 22.4km northeast of an earthquake recording station in Chiayi County.
■ TOURISM
Ex-UK Takao office closes
The former British Consulate at Takao in Kaohsiung has been shut down temporarily in preparation for a new exhibit introducing the history and culture of the famed tourist attraction. Shih Jhe (史哲), director-general of Kaohsiung City’s Culture Bureau, said the exhibit, organized by British Council Taiwan, would highlight long-term trade relations between Taiwan and the UK since 1864, when Kaohsiung Port first began operations. British architecture, music and design will also be featured in the digital art exhibition, Shih said. The consulate, whose construction was completed in 1879, is scheduled to reopen to the public on July 1. However, its outdoor cafe and indoor gift shop will remain open during the renovation, Shih said.
■ WEATHER
Storm may bring rain
The Central Weather Bureau said that a slow moving storm, Linfa, was located 630km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻) in Pingtung County yesterday. Bureau data showed that Linfa, the third tropical storm to form around Taiwan this year, had a radius of 100km, with maximum wind speed of 18 meters per second. Whether the storm would affect the weather in Taiwan needs further observation today, the bureau said, adding that the chances of rain in central and southern Taiwan would be high if the storm continued moving north.
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
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
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