SEISMOLOGY
Two regions hit by quakes
Two earthquakes measuring magnitude 4 or more hit central and eastern regions yesterday, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The first was a magnitude 4 quake that hit central regions at 3:43am, followed by a magnitude 4.8 quake in the east at 11:12am, the Central Weather Bureau said. The two quakes were not related to each other, the bureau said. The first was centered 22.8km east of Chiayi City Hall at a depth of 6km. The strongest intensity of 3 was reported in Jhongpu Township (中埔), Chiayi County. The second, which was centered at sea at a depth of 82.7km, was located 20.6km east of Taitung County Hall. Green Island, offshore of Taitung County, recorded the strongest intensity of 2, the bureau said.
SCIENCE
Pair in science award win
Chang Ching-fong (張清風) and Sylvie Dufour of France received the Taiwan-France Science and Technology Award in Paris on Wednesday for their achievements in marine biology research. The pair have cooperated in the study of marine life physiology and ecology since 1992. They have made many new discoveries regarding the reproductive and endocrine systems of fish and corals. At the award ceremony, Dufour said she was very happy to win the honor and believes it could help promote cooperation between France and Taiwan. Describing her experiences of conducting research in Taiwan as “rich,” Dufour said the experience allowed her to get to know a culture that is different, and yet very close to that of France. Chang, meanwhile, said the award was meaningful because it showed that research cooperation between the two countries is firm and deep. Chang praised French scientists as conscientious, making them perfect partners for cooperation.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods