A sea warning could be issued this morning after a tropical storm approaching Taiwan was upgraded to a typhoon, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday.
It is still uncertain whether a land warning for Typhoon Muifa would be necessary, the bureau said.
As of 6pm yesterday, Muifa was 515km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving northwest at 11kph, bureau data showed.
The typhoon had maximum sustained winds of 119kph, with gusts of up to 155kph, and was strengthening, it said.
The storm is expected to slow down and linger east of Taiwan today, with its outer bands bringing rain and winds to northern and eastern Taiwan, it said.
From today to Thursday, mountainous areas in northeastern and northern Taiwan, including Keelung, and the north coast are likely to have strong winds and heavy rain, it said.
In other parts of the country, the weather would be sunny to cloudy, with brief afternoon showers, the bureau forecast.
Ferry service on three routes connecting Taiwan proper with Lienchiang County and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) would be suspended today, local authorities said yesterday.
The operator that runs the ferry service between Keelung and Lienchiang announced that it had canceled Taima Star Ferry and Taima Ferry services for today, the Port Authority said in a statement.
Ferry operators have also canceled services to Orchid Island from Pingtung County’s Houbihu Port (後壁湖) and Taitung County’s Fugang Fishing Port (富岡漁港) today, the authority said.
Ferry services from Fugang Fishery Harbor to Taitung County’s Green Island (綠島) would be subject to weather conditions, the authority said.
It said it has coordinated with ferry operators to open an additional 10 voyages yesterday to allow people to leave Orchid Island and Green Island before the storm.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said yesterday. When Philippine forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) on Saturday due to bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help, but later saw that the ship had been extricated, Philippine navy regional spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among