With Typhoon Soudelor looked set to affect the nation’s east coast, Hualien and Yilan county governments yesterday announced that offices would be closed today.
As of 8:30pm, the Central Weather Bureau had raised both sea and land warnings.
Ships out at sea to the northwest and southeast of Taiwan, including areas close to Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島), the Taiwan Strait and the northern parts of Taiwan should be on the lookout for strong winds and high waves, the bureau said.
At press time, the typhoon was 790km southeast of Hualien and was moving northwest at 23kph.
Classed as a category 2 typhoon by the Japan Meteorological Agency, the storm’s radius is expected to extend between 100km and 280km depending on whether its radius is classed as 7 or 10.
The bureau expects the typhoon to increase in strength as it approaches and to be located 260km southeast of Hualien County by 5pm today.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
Soudelor is currently classed as a medium typhoon, with the potential of being raised to a strong typhoon.
Organizers of the Yilan International Children’s Folklore and Folkgame Festival said that activities scheduled for today and tomorrow have been suspended, with the last day of the festival being extended to Monday.
People planning to travel to outlying islands should contact airline companies for updates on flight information and schedules.
IMMIGRATION REFORM: The legislative amendments aim to protect the rights of families to reunify, and to attract skilled professionals to stay and work in Taiwan Foreigners who are highly skilled professionals, top-prize winners in professional disciplines, investment immigration applicants or have made special contributions to Taiwan can soon apply for permanent residency on behalf of their spouses and minor or disabled children after the legislature approved amendments to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法). The amendments, which were proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and approved by the Executive Yuan on Jan. 12, aim to attract foreign talent to Taiwan and encourage them to stay. They would take effect once they are signed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). The amendments involved changing 63 articles, making it the biggest
FIRST STEP: Business groups in Taiwan welcomed the deal, which does not include tariff reductions at this stage, as they called for the elimination of double taxation Taiwan and the US yesterday signed an initial agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. The agreement was signed yesterday morning by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Managing Director Ingrid Larson in Washington, the Office of Trade Negotiations in Taipei said. The ceremony was witnessed by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) and Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi. Taiwan and the US started talks under the initiative in August last year, after Taipei was left out of the Washington-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. “The deal that will be signed tonight is not only very historic,
Beijing yesterday blamed US “provocation” for an incident last week in which a Chinese plane crossed in front of a US surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea. The incident came at a time of frayed ties between Washington and Beijing over issues including Taiwan and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US this year. “The United States’ long-term and frequent sending of ships and planes to conduct close surveillance on China seriously harms China’s national sovereignty and security,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said when asked about the latest incident. “This
‘GLOBAL NETWORK’: The only way to deter a Chinese invasion is for the international community to unite in its resolve, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee (李淳) yesterday urged democratic nations around the world to not let Beijing dictate the definition of their “one China” policies, saying that they should increase cooperation with Taiwan to build a resilient democratic network. Lee made the remarks during his speech, titled “Ukraine and Taiwan: Why Global Unity Matters,” at the annual Bratislava Forum in Slovakia. “People in Taiwan have been paying close attention to the situation in Ukraine and admire Ukrainians for defending their homeland. They are [also] fighting for Taiwan and democratic countries around the world,” Lee told forum participants. “The international
RSS