ASTRONOMY
Lunar eclipse to occur
A total lunar eclipse is to take place in the nation on Saturday, producing the most visible “blood moon” since the one in October last year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said yesterday. It said the eclipse would begin before the moon rises at 6:04pm on Saturday and last until about 8:45pm. The moon is expected to appear copper in color as it becomes fully obscured by the Earth’s shadow between 7:54pm and 8:06pm, the museum said, adding that the 12-minute episode would be the shortest of its kind in the nation in the 21st century. The public would see a bright full moon turn a reddish hue, hence the nickname “blood moon,” the museum said. However, moon watchers would only be able to see part of the eclipse; they would not be able to see a total lunar eclipse in full progress until Jan. 31, 2018, the museum said.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Japan products rejected
Another 478.2kg of food products from areas in Japan affected by the 2011 nuclear disaster have been discovered at Taiwanese customs, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. The seven shipments of food items cannot be allowed into Taiwan and are to be returned to Japan, the FDA said. The FDA imposed a ban on food products from the Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant melted down in March 2011, and contaminated parts of those regions with radioactive substances. However, health authorities recently discovered that some food imports from the areas have made their way into the nation by having place of origin information on their packaging covered by Chinese-language stickers showing a different point of origin. As of noon on Friday, the Atomic Energy Council said it had tested 422 food items from the five Japanese prefectures, and none had been found to be radioactive.
TOURISM
National park visitors rise
Kenting National Park had 8.16 million visitors last year, making it the most-visited national park in the nation last year, according to government statistics released on Friday. Taroko National Park was the second-most popular with 6.28 million visitors and Shoushan National Park was third with 4.69 million visitors, the Ministry of the Interior said. There are currently nine national parks and one national nature park. The 10 parks had a combined 28.28 million visitors last year, an increase of 3.79 million from the previous year, the ministry said. Taroko National Park and Kenting National Park saw the biggest increase in visitors last year, with visitor numbers rising by 1.5 million and 1.1 million respectively.
TRANSPORT
MOU signed with US state
Taiwan and the US state of South Carolina have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on driver’s license reciprocity that allows license holders from each side to obtain a local license without having to take local tests, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday. The MOU was signed earlier on Friday and took immediate effect, the ministry said in a statement. Under the agreement, residents in South Carolina with a Taiwanese driver’s license are allowed to waive written and driving tests to receive a South Carolina driver’s license, while South Carolina drivers can obtain a license issued by Taiwan. South Carolina is the 10th US state to sign an agreement on driver’s license reciprocity with Taiwan.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS