TRANSPORTATION
Cow collision stops train
Rail travel in part of eastern Taiwan was temporarily suspended after a train hit a herd of cattle that wandered onto the tracks, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said yesterday. A northbound train to Hualien departed Taitung at 9am. About 10 minues later, as the train approached Luye Station (鹿野), the engineer saw several cows on the tracks and pulled the emergency brake. However, the train was unable to stop in time, hitting six and killing them. The front carriage was badly damaged and was unable to continue the journey. The 12 passengers on the train were not hurt, but arrangements were made to transfer them to another train at Luye Station, resulting in a delay of 88 minutes to their trip. It was not the first time that a TRA train has hit livestock in Taitung County, but it was the most animals killed in a single incident.
WEATHER
Holiday to see cold weather
The Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend that starts on Saturday will see temperatures drop by 9?C due to a continental cold air mass, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Due to the weakening of a cold air mass that arrived last weekend, temperatures climbed yesterday, reaching 22 to 23?C in north and eastern Taiwan, and 23?C to 27?C in central and southern areas, the bureau said. A cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Friday, pushing temperatures down across the nation at night, it said. Daytime temperatures the following day are forecast to reach a high of 16?C in the north and about 20?C to 22?C in other areas, the bureau said. Nighttime temperatures are forecast to dip to a low of about 13?C in the north, and 16?C to 18?C in other areas.
INTERNET
‘NYT’ amends poll
The New York Times (NYT) Web site recently corrected a drop-down menu of nations to include Taiwan after a reader’s complaint. According to a reader in Taiwan, a recent travel article on the Web site was followed by a reader’s poll. One question in the survey had a drop-down menu listing more than 100 nations, but not Taiwan. The reader contacted the writer, who in turn wrote his editors, saying: “I’ve been getting some rather angry comments about the reader poll that runs at the bottom of online articles on your Web site. There is no Taiwan or Hong Kong in the drop-down menu, forcing international readers in both Taiwan and Hong Kong to click ‘China.’ Besides creating unnecessary irritation [to put it mildly] among international readers, it seems we would want to know who is in Taiwan and Hong Kong as they are distinct markets.” The issue was fixed three days later and Taiwan and Hong Kong are now listed on the menu.
DIPLOMACY
China complains to Japan
Beijing yesterday said it has complained to Tokyo after a Japanese minister visited Taipei on Saturday over the weekend, saying that this could hurt relations between the two nations. Japanese Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Jiro Akama visited Taipei on Saturday to attend a tourism promotion event in his official capacity, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communications said. Japanese media said Akama was the highest-level government official to visit Taiwan since Tokyo broke diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1972. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said the visit ran contrary to Japan’s promise to have only non-governmental and local-level exchanges with Taiwan.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
RSS