CULTURE
Comic fair to animate Taipei
This year’s edition of the annual Comic Exhibition is to open on Aug. 7 in Taipei, featuring graphic artists, writers and voice actors from Taiwan and Japan. Fifty-five Taiwanese and Japanese artists are to hold 35 book-signing events at the fair, according to the Taipei-based Chinese Animation and Comic Publishers Association, the event’s main organizer. Among them are Japanese voice actor Yuki Kaji, who voiced the main character in the popular anime series Attack on Titan, and Japanese manga artist Isaku Natsume, known for her work on False Memories 2. More than 60 publishers are to set up 530 booths at the exhibition, a 20 percent increase compared with last year, the association said. It estimated that visitor numbers could surpass 600,000 this year. The event, now in its 15th year, is to run until Aug. 12 at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1.
WEATHER
Depression may bring rain
A tropical depression that formed east of the Philippines on Saturday could bring rain to the eastern half of the country from Wednesday, the Central Weather Bureau said. The depression, which remained about 2,000km from Taiwan as of Saturday evening, is likely to continue strengthening as it moves toward the nation, forecasters said. Whether it will develop into a tropical storm depends on the strength of the high pressure system over the Pacific, the bureau said. Before Wednesday, most parts of the country are likely to see typical summer weather, with sporadic thunderstorms in the afternoon, it said. Daytime highs are expected to range from 33oC to 35oC nationwide, the bureau added.
FISHERIES
Shrimp catch at decade-high
The nation’s sergestid shrimp harvest hit a 10-year high this year, prompting authorities to put in place a mechanism to prevent overfishing and oversupply, the Council of Agriculture has said. The major fishing period for sergestid shrimp runs from November to May and the nation’s fishermen have caught more than 1,600 tonnes of the crustacean as of this May, 200 tonnes more than the previous year and the largest amount caught over the past decade, the council said in a statement. The value of this year’s sergestid shrimp harvest is expected to reach NT$460 million (US$15.25 million), the statement said. Sergestid shrimp are small, nearly transparent crustaceans that are a popular ingredient in Asian cuisine.
CRIME
Man arrested for bomb claim
A man who claimed to have explosives in his luggage was arrested by police at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. The man, surnamed Shih (施), went to the China Airlines counter at the airport yesterday morning and checked in for Flight CI791 to Hanoi. While checking in his luggage, a ground crew member asked Shih if the suitcase contained any contraband. “Yes, explosives,” Shih was reported as saying. The crew member then called police, who took Shih away for questioning. It has been reported that Shih said his comments were a joke and that he admitted to having drunk alcohol earlier. The police did not find explosives in his luggage, but still brought him to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office for further investigation. Participating in a bomb hoax is a crime punishable by up to three years in jail or a maximum fine of NT$1 million (US$33,340).
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