WEATHER
Temperatures stage rally
Daytime temperatures around the country went up by 4?C to 5?C yesterday as the low temperatures and rain that had people shivering in most areas over the past week gradually give way to drier and warmer weather, the Central Weather Bureau said. The more moderate spell of weather will likely last for four days before another cold front and a strong continental cold air mass are expected to reach the nation from the north on Wednesday, the bureau said. Today’s highs will exceed 20?C throughout the nation, and on Tuesday temperatures are likely to rise to about 25?C in northern and eastern areas and up to 28?C in the south, the bureau said. The next front is expected to last until Friday, bringing low temperatures, precipitation and possibly heavy rain to the north and the northeast, it said.
SOCIETY
Lee reveals surgery
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) revealed yesterday that he underwent surgery for skin cancer two weeks ago and is expected to be completely cured of the disease in a few months. Lee said on the sidelines of a book launch in Taipei yesterday he was diagnosed with skin cancer after inquiring about the scar above his upper lip. “These were cancer cells that had gone deep into the skin,” Lee said, adding that he had gone for a medical check after his family thought the spot was abnormal. Lee said the operation had removed all of the cancer cells and he expects to be in complete remission in a few months.
EDUCATION
Japanese students increase
An increasing number of Japanese have come to Taiwan to learn Mandarin or pursue other studies over the past decade, bucking a trend of decreasing interest in studying overseas among Japanese students. Citing data from the Japanese government, the Ministry of Education said that 30 percent fewer Japanese are going abroad for education than 10 years ago. However, the number of Japanese students at Taiwanese universities, particularly at Chinese learning centers, has increased over the same period, from fewer than 2,000 to more than 3,000. The famed hospitality of Taiwanese is a major draw, according to students. Since 2006, the ministry has been encouraging foreigners to join short-term Chinese language tours in Taiwan. There have been 198 such tours to date. As of the end of last year, 150,000 people had taken the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language, a locally developed examination to determine the Chinese proficiency of non-native learners.
DIPLOMACY
Meteorology exchanges start
Taiwan and China are to begin official exchanges on meteorology and earthquake monitoring once the two sides ink cooperation pacts at a high-level meeting scheduled in Taipei later this month. The Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits are scheduled to hold the meeting from Feb. 26 to Feb. 28 at the earliest, during which they are to sign the separate agreements on meteorological cooperation and seismic monitoring. Pending legislative procedures, the agreements would see the Central Weather Bureau working formally with the China Meteorological Administration and China Earthquake Administration for the first time. Both sides will organize their own task forces and begin convening meetings on data sharing, personnel exchanges and technological cooperation, officials said.
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