ASTRONOMY
Moon and Venus
A beautiful celestial phenomenom will take place before dawn today, when the moon and Venus will appear in close proximity to each other, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said yesterday. The tight conjunction of the two heavenly bodies would occur at 3:42am and the planet and moon are expected to approach within 0.56 degrees of each other, a museum researcher said. Although a moon-Venus conjunction is not rare in itself, conditions for observation are expected to be the most favorable in years, the museum said. “They will look like a big moon and a small moon positioned side by side,” a museum researcher said. When the celestial event takes place, a slender waning moon and a magnitude -4.5 Venus will both have their bright sides facing down. This will be a great time for stargazers to take unique photos.
CRIME
Councilor’s status revoked
The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday revoked the status of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Greater Kaohsiung councilor Chang Sheng-fu (張勝富) following accusations of vote buying. Chang was accused by his campaign rival of giving his supporters NT$500 - NT$1,000 in exchange for their participation in his campaign events in October 2010. His rival filed a civil suit with the district court to nullify Chang’s election. The district court yesterday revoked Chang’s status. It said Chang could appeal the ruling with the Taiwan High Court’s Kaohsiung branch. Chang yesterday claimed his innocence and said he intends to appeal the ruling.
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