Biting midges are found all over the country except in Pingtung and Taitung in the south, while three areas in Taichung City, Changhua County and Tainan County have been found to have the highest concentrations of the insect, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said on Tuesday.
The EPA listed the areas worst-affected by the blood-sucking insects, citing a nationwide field survey on midge concentrations conducted by National Chung Hsing University and Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology last month.
The survey found that the highest concentration — calculated by the number of midge bites on a naked leg within a 20-minute period — was at an earth god temple in the Mingzheng neighborhood of Taichung City's Dakeng District (大坑), with 587 bites detected.
Yienchu Village in Changhua County's Huatan Township (花壇) and Shalun Village (沙崙) in Tainan County's Gueijen Township (歸仁) were also in the top three places for midge concentrations.
Yuan Shao-ying (袁紹英), director-general of the Department of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Substances, said humans had introduced midges from remote townships and villages to urban areas, probably by unwittingly bringing them home in their cars after visiting infested areas.
The EPA urged the public to keep their homes free of moss and wet soil to reduce the chances of the insects breeding.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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