■ Weather
South may get typhoon's rain
Typhoon Krovanh formed Wednesday night to the south of the Philippines, but it is unlikely to hit Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Bureau forecasters said the typhoon, located at 18.8 degrees north and 129.2 degrees east as of 8am yesterday, is unlikely to reach Taiwan. However, it may bring heavy rains to the south.
■ Crime
Ship found but not crew
The government suspects foul play in the disappearance of the crew of a fishing trawler that was found empty near the Indonesian island of Java, authorities said yesterday. The Chan Cheng Tsung disappeared late last month and was found Wednesday. Its "crew, cargo of fish and equipment were all missing," said fisheries official Sha Chih-yi. The ship, registered in Liuchiu, had three Taiwanese on board -- including its captain -- along with two Chinese and four Indonesians, Sha said. ``We would like Indonesia to find out whether the Indonesian crewmembers are involved,'' he said. Indonesian waters are notorious high-risk areas for ships, which are commonly robbed or hijacked by pirates.
■ Politics
Veterans plan parade
A parade and an evening party will be held in downtown Taipei today to commemorate the Battle of the Taiwan Strait, which began on Aug. 23, 1958. The commemoration is sponsored by the KMT and the "Confederation of Veterans of the Aug. 23 Battle." On Aug. 23, 1958, Chinese troops began to shell Kinmen. In the first 36 hours, the island was battered by 94,000 rounds of artillery. Over the next 42 days, more than 400,000 mortar shells rained down on the island before the attack was repulsed. A KMT spokesman said the battle symbolizes the honor it is to serve in the armed forces to defend Taiwan. He said the battle has an important meaning, but the DPP has ignored it. Organizers said an estimated 8,000 veterans of the battle and a few KMT and PFP legislators will participate in a parade from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to the 228 Memorial Park, the site of the party.
■ Transport
Plane makes risky landing
A passenger plane from Taipei glided onto a runway at Shangyi Airport on Kinmen Island yesterday while trying to land amid a heavy downpour, forcing the airport authorities to shut down the facility. The MD82 passenger plane of Far East Air Transport Corp, which departed from Taipei at 11:14am with six crew members and 147 passengers on board, landed at 12:03pm. The plane was covered in mud but no one was injured. The airport was reopened later yesterday.
■ Military
Navy disputes media reports
Navy General Headquarters disputed media reports yesterday that a navy anti-submarine aircraft made a forced landing at Shuinan Airport in Taichung earlier in the day. The navy said in a press release that the S-2T was on a post-maintenance test flight when its pilot spotted an engine-fire warning signal. The pilot immediately made an emergency landing, the press statement said, adding that thanks to the pilot's appropriate handling, the plane landed safely and didn't veer off the runway as some media reports had claimed. The navy added that the plane's smooth landing should not be described as a forced landing. It dismissed as "misleading" media reports that the S-2T was stranded on the runway.
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS