President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said the government would conduct an extensive examination of the nation’s electricity supply system, as she inspected several sites along the west coast that experienced power outages caused by Typhoon Megi.
“This typhoon wreaked havoc across the nation,” Tsai said, while inspecting Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon.
“In addition to agricultural damage, our biggest challenge at the moment is major power outages across the nation, with more than 1 million households still without electricity,” she said.
Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Taipei Times
Tsai said the government would examine other typhoon-stricken areas to check electricity supply problems and come with a more effective mechanism to tackle power disruptions during national disasters.
“We should put a stop to the rampant problem of households suffering power outages whenever a typhoon strikes, forcing Taipower [Taiwan Power Co, 台電] employees to brave inclement weather in every corner of the nation to work to restore power supply,” Tsai said.
“This responsibility falls on the government. We will re-examine all electricity supply systems across the nation to endeavor to better protect them from the effects of natural disasters,” the president said.
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
Nearly 3.9 million households experienced power outages due to Megi. As of 9:53pm yesterday, 359,927 households were still without power, Taipower said.
The president also thanked the nation’s frontline emergency workers, following news that three Taipower workers fell into a 10m-deep valley on their way to Miaoli County’s Touwu District (頭屋) earlier yesterday, with one of them sustaining severe injuries.
The three were taken to Miaoli General Hospital for treatment.
“It is difficult times like these that the good nature of Taiwanese shows through, because whenever there is a person in need following a natural disaster, there are always people volunteering to come forward and work around the clock to restore their fellow citizens’ lives back to normal,” Tsai said.
Following her visit to the airport, Tsai went to Taoyuan’s Sinwu District (新屋) before heading south to Miaoli to visit the three injured Taipower workers.
She also inspected sites in Changhua County and Taichung that were affected by the typhoon.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS