As rescuers struggled to save people still trapped in the ruins of the collapsed Weiguan Jinlong building in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康) amid a cold snap, volunteers set up soup kitchens nearby to provide hot food for rescue workers and relatives of the missing.
The Central Weather Bureau forecast that nighttime and early-morning temperatures in most parts of the nation would dip below 10°C until tomorrow.
Kuo Cheng-chang (郭政樟) and eight members of his family were distributing free bowls of hot pot and noodles to first responders, who eagerly lined up for something hot to replenish their energy after hours of working in the cold.
The proprietor and chef of a hot-pot restaurant in Tainan, Kuo said he and his sister left their family restaurant in the hands of their employees to handle a fully booked Lunar New Year’s Eve.
“I do not know how to save people, but I know a lot about making a good stew. This is the part where my professional skills can help,” he said.
“My stoves will be kept on for as long as there is a rescue operation. I am keeping everybody fed and warm, regardless of costs,” he said.
Other volunteers began arriving at the site on Saturday to provide aid and succor to the rescue workers and police officers.
A restaurant owner on Saturday set up a temporary kitchen that provided 500 servings of the traditional holiday pork stew known as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛跳牆) to rescue workers, while a charity group distributed hot baozi (包子) buns.
Volunteers from groups as well as individuals also distributed hand warmers and heat pads to police officers stationed at checkpoints to maintain a cordon and traffic control around the collapsed building.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan