■WEATHER
Heavy rain expected
Heavy rain was expected in northern and eastern Taiwan beginning last night resulting from the peripheral effects of Typhoon Lupit, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday. The storm was moving at 15kph toward the northern Philippines’ Luzon Island yesterday, bureau forecaster Tang Shun-jan said. Although Lupit will not hit Taiwan, its periphery, combined with the northeastern monsoon, will result in heavy rainfall in northern and eastern regions over the next two days, he said. In particular, Yilan County may experience torrential rain, defined as 24-hour rainfall exceeding 200mm, and Hualien County could see heavier rain, meaning rainfall exceeding 350mm in 24 hours, Tang said.
■CRIME
Thirst foils burglar
A thirsty burglar fell victim to his habit of capping successful break-ins with a drink, as police traced him via DNA left on glasses and cans at the crime scenes, an official said yesterday. The man, identified only by his surname Chen, committed a number of burglaries in residential areas around Taipei from 2006 to last year, a spokesman for the Taipei District Court said. On one occasion he drank from a wine glass, and on another from a can, leaving saliva from which his DNA could be extracted, the spokesman said. The thefts of items such a laptops and flat-panel TVs led the court to sentence Chen to one year and 10 months in jail on Tuesday, he said.
■ENVIRONMENT
Fish fry video on the way
The Kaohsiung City Government has commissioned a video of fish fry to be released to students and faculty at schools around the city with the aim of promoting the concept of marine resource conservation, city officials said yesterday. As Kaohsiung is a major fishery base, over the past 20 years the city government has been releasing selected species of fry into the waters around the city every year, officials from the city’s Marine Bureau said. This year, the coral reef areas of Chaishan (柴山) and neighboring regions were selected for the release of some 22,000 orange-spotted groupers, the officials said. Weather and other conditions would be considered when deciding when to release the fish, the officials said, adding that orange-spotted groupers had been selected for the second year because of their hardiness and high economic value. Segments featuring experts showing how to properly release the fish would be included in the video. Copies of the DVD will be distributed to 160,000 students and faculty at 139 elementary and high schools, the officials said.
■ENVIRONMENT
EPA awards prizes
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday awarded prizes to 19 companies, NGOs and government departments in a ceremony held in Taipei to reward organizations that adopted proper waste management and recycling techniques and minimized waste. EPA Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) said that these companies, including Nan Ya Plastics (南亞塑料工業) and China Motor (中華汽車) were a fine example in the fight against global warming. “With everyone’s hard work, our country can maintain its environmental well-being and ecological protection as our economy and manufacturing industry improve,” Shen said. Out of 32 applicants, three organizations — Unimicron Corp (欣興電子公司), Taoyuan General Hospital (行政院衛生署桃園醫院) and Fooyin University (輔英大學) — received awards for outstanding performance.
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