While members of the public are prohibited from taking up permanent residence on Pengchia Islet (
Born in 1950 on Pengchia, the lighthouse keeper, Peng Hsing-shih (
Peng has served in the lighthouse for 28 years, making him the most senior person on Pengchia.
PHOTO: CNA
With his family name (
During the Japanese colonial era, some Taiwanese residents are said to have relocated to the islet to seek shelter from Japanese rule.
They then gradually moved back to Taiwan proper after Japanese rule ended.
Given that Pengchia Islet remains a controlled zone under military rule , the public is not allowed to tour the island.
But more than 40 people are stationed on Pengchia, including officers of the Coast Guard Administration and marine corps, as well as personnel for marine radar observation stations and officials with the Central Weather Bureau.
There are seven lighthouse keepers on Pengchia, with one acting as the chief, four as regular keepers and the remaining two serving on a rotational basis.
But life for the lighthouse keepers can be boring.
Their wives and children are not allowed to stay live on Pengchia, and giving birth to a child on the island would be impossible.
But Peng said he is comforted by the fact that he has to work only two weeks a month.
When asked if his children will follow in his footsteps and one day serve as lighthouse keepers, the father of three daughters and one son said he is not sure.
Pengchia, also known as Tachihshan Islet (大峙山嶼), is located 55km from Keelung's harbor.
The islet is around 114 hectares in area and has a terrace-like topography, with precipices on the east, south and north ends.
A makeshift jetty on the southern shore allows boats to land. According to military servicemen, a walk around the island takes about two hours.
The islet is covered with wild grass but lacks trees, due to its thin layer of topsoil.
Pengchia depends on Taiwan proper for regular water supplies, while power generators provide only enough electricity to run the instruments at the weather station.
The government is planning to upgrade the electricity and water supplies to the islet.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS