WEATHER
Cooler weather expected
Clearer skies and higher temperatures should continue across the nation until tomorrow, when an approaching front is expected to bring rain and cooler weather, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. A stable weather front today could see daily highs exceed 30ºC, with cloudy to sunny skies expected in most areas, forecasters said. Temperatures today are likely to be between 20ºC and 31ºC in northern areas of the nation and between 22ºC and 30ºC in southern areas, the bureau said. However, the warm weather is likely to be interrupted by an approaching front tomorrow, with daily highs set to drop by 5ºC in northern areas, it said. The front will likely also bring a higher probability of rain and thunderstorms across the country, the bureau said, adding that rainy weather could continue into next week.
TOURISM
Taiwanese honest: poll
Taiwanese are the world’s ninth-most honest hotel guests, an industry survey released on Monday showed. Of the 28 countries and one territory, Hong Kong, surveyed, Denmark topped the list as the country with the world’s most honest hotel guests, followed by the Netherlands and Norway, with Taiwan and South Korea taking joint ninth, according to the survey conducted by hotels.com, a Web site for booking hotel rooms. Brazil, Canada and Hong Kong were tied for fourth place, followed by Italy, which was ranked seven, and Russia in eighth. China was ranked 23rd, along with the US, hotels.com said. The survey also found that the items most commonly taken from hotels are magazines, books, linens and towels. Other frequently stolen items taken were bathrobes, pillows, lamps and clocks. The survey was conducted in January and collected 8,600 responses.
CRIME
Circus performer killed
Russian circus performer Alikov Attire reportedly died in a knife brawl at the Cingjing Farm (清境農場) tourist resort in Nantou County yesterday. Local police said the 27-year-old was allegedly killed by Persaev Ruslan, 57, the circus’ director. The police said the two men got in a fight in their dormitory at the resort, where the circus is performing on a one-year contract. Ruslan was reportedly angry at Attire for mishandling his horse during yesterday’s noontime performance, causing Ruslan to fall off the horse twice, police said. Attire was stabbed twice in the left part of his chest, severing his aorta and resulting in profuse bleeding, police said. Other circus members called an ambulance, but Attire died at the scene when the police and paramedics arrived. Ruslan has been detained by the police for questioning and remained in custody as of press time.
TOURISM
‘Times’ writes up Taipei
The New York Times recently published an article in its weekend edition advising would-be visitors to Taipei how to experience all of the city’s major draws in 36 hours. The article on the paper’s travel page describes Taipei as a city that never sleeps, “welcoming residents and visitors to brush up on their history, explore their spirituality and, most of all, satisfy their taste buds,” Hsu Yeou-jey wrote. The article suggested that visitors sample tea at Muzha and descend the mountains after sunset to take in the view of the Taipei skyline at twilight. The National Palace Museum, the night market at Huaxi Street, Taipei 101 and the flagship Eslite Bookstore are also on the writer’s recommendation list.
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