WEATHER
Torrential rain forecast
A strong weather front accompanied by increasing southwesterly winds could bring the nation its heaviest precipitation next week since the plum rain season began in May, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Torrential rain with hourly precipitation of over 200mm is likely in western and northeastern Taiwan from Tuesday to Thursday, when the frontal system passes over Taiwan, the bureau said. With the strength of seasonal winds from the southwest also expected to reach a peak at the same time, the bureau said, the unstable weather conditions could cause substantial flooding. However, the rain could help bring down temperatures across the nation to below 30°C, the bureau added.
CRIME
Fraudsters to be deported
Forty-five Taiwanese nationals suspected of taking part in two Philippines-based telephone fraud rings were deported from the country and sent back to Taiwan yesterday after being caught in mid-April. The suspects, who were arrested immediately after arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, will be subject to a criminal investigation. The 45 were among 72 Taiwanese nationals and 6 Chinese suspects who were arrested in Davao on April 18 after Taiwanese and Philippines police raided three of their suspected operating bases. An initial investigation showed that members of the rings, led by two Taiwanese, posed as judicial personnel, local officials or call center employees to coax or intimidate victims into wiring money into the swindlers’ accounts. The remaining 27 Taiwanese nationals are expected to be deported at a later date after raising enough money to cover their travel expenses.
CHARITY
Rummage sale at TAS
The Taipei American School (TAS) Orphanage Club will be hosting its annual end-of-school-year rummage sale today from 10am to 5pm. Club members have collected a huge variety of new and used clothing, shoes, stuffed animals, games, furniture, electronic items and other miscellaneous items. The sale will be held in the school’s forecourt and lobby, come rain or shine. All of the proceeds go to the club’s funds for needy children and orphans in Taiwan and its outlying islands, as well as AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania. TAS is located at 800 Zhongshan N Rd Sec 6 in Tianmu (天母).
ECONOMY
Zongzi prices to be probed
Vice Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday that the government is looking into prices of zongzi (粽子) — glutinous rice dumplings — and it would publish the results next week ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival, when the popular treat is traditionally consumed. Jiang, who is also the head of a Cabinet task force on consumer price stabilization, said that convenience store chains’ catalogues of pre-sold zongzi showed price increases from last year, despite the price of some ingredients being lower. Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Wen-te (陳文德) said prices of round and long-grain glutinous rice are 8.3 percent and 20.87 percent lower than last year respectively, while the price of pork — the main filling — had fallen to NT$69 (US$2.30) per kilogram from NT$72. Council of Agriculture data also showed prices of duck eggs, mushrooms and peanuts, commonly used as filling, are either the same or slightly higher than last year.
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
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
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard