Ferry operators and event organizers across the nation yesterday announced a slate of cancelations for this week as Typhoon Doksuri approached.
The Central Weather Bureau last night issued a sea warning for the typhoon and was expected to issue a land warning this morning.
Doksuri is expected to affect Taiwan the most tomorrow and on Thursday, as it approaches the nation’s southwestern coastal areas and heads for China.
In anticipation of typhoon-induced storm tides and waves, operators of passenger ferry services between Pingtung’s Donggang (東港) and Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) announced that sailings would be suspended from tomorrow through Friday.
Ferries between Taitung and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島), as well as those between Houbihu Harbor (後壁湖港) in Kenting (墾丁) and Orchid Island, are to be halted from today until Thursday, the Maritime Port Bureau said.
The Lienchiang County Government said that once a sea warning is issued for Doksuri, long-distance ferry services between Taiwan proper and Matsu would be halted, while intercounty sailings would be reduced.
Photo: CNA
Once a land warning is issued, flights between Taiwan and Matsu would be suspended, it added.
The Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area Administration announced an immediate three-day closure of Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島) as a precautionary public safety measure.
The Forestry Bureau said that Taipingshan National Forest Recreational Area and access roads to the area, including Provincial Highway No. 7, would be closed to the public from 4pm today.
The bureau added that the timing of the national park’s reopening would depend on the development of the typhoon.
A concert at the Zhiben Hot Spring Area scheduled for Thursday as part of the Taitung Hot Air Balloon Festival has been rescheduled to Aug. 24.
Three Chinese Professional Baseball League games in Taitung County from today until Thursday have also been postponed to Oct. 17 to 19.
A fireworks show at Dadaocheng Summer Festival in Taipei set to be held tomorrow has been canceled.
Doksuri was upgraded into a typhoon from a tropical storm on Sunday evening, the bureau said.
As of 8pm yesterday, the center of Doksuri was 790km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, the bureau said, adding that it was packing maximum sustained winds of 155kph and gusts of up to 191kph.
Executive Yuan spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) said that Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) had instructed all ministries to be more vigilant in taking precautions against the typhoon.
Additional reporting by Reuters
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
RSS