■ Earthquake
Moderate temblor strikes
A moderate earthquake jolted eastern Taiwan yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau said, but no damage or injuries were reported. The magnitude 5.3 quake's epicenter was under the Pacific Ocean, about 33km east of the town of Hsilin, Hualien County, according to the bureau.
■ Luncheons
Mayor meets group
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) hosted a luncheon yesterday at the Taipei World Trade Center for several members of the Committee of 100, a high-profile Chinese-American organization, after he was denied a visa by the Hong Kong authorities to attend a meeting on urban development organized by the group. The mayor had been scheduled to present a speech at the Committee of 100's first "Greater China" Conference that will run from Jan. 12 to 14 in Hong Kong until his visa application was rejected. Because of this, he met in Taipei with 19 members of the Committee, including San Francisco-based Unison International chairman C.B. Sung (沈堅白). During the lunch, Ma expressed regret at not being able to meet them in Hong Kong. Although his planned itinerary in Hong Kong did not include any official activities, the authorities refused to open the door for him, he said. He claimed, however, that the incident has drawn "worldwide media attention." He said there are about 89 press reports, including stories in The Asian Wall Street Journal and the South China Morning Post, on the incident.
■ Environment
NASA to help with pollution
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is set to hold a seminar today on the application of satellite remote sensing technology in atmospheric pollution control. According to EPA officials, the seminar is a cooperative project between the EPA and the US Environmental Protection Agency and is being coordinated by Tsay Si-chee (蔡錫旗), a senior scientist at NASA. In addition to Tsay, who will be one of the keynote speakers, the participants will also include several other US and Australian scientists, the officials said. The EPA has since last year cooperated with the Central Weather Bureau to monitor air pollution by analyzing data from NASA satellites, and satellite technology is especially helpful in the monitoring of cross-border pollution, they said.
■ Politics
Cabinet to avoid controversy
The Executive Yuan yesterday decided to cancel a special report about rectifying the names of all government agencies to "Taiwan" from its weekly agenda in what was seen as a move to avoid causing controversy in the ruling the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) effort to cooperate with the People First Party (PFP). In a bid to make a distinction between Taiwan and China, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in December pledged to rectify the names of all relevant government agencies to "Taiwan" in two years. Premier Yu Shyi-kun threw his backing behind the proposal and requested agencies concerned present a concrete plan by the end of the month. While the DPP is gearing up efforts hoping to cooperate with the PFP in the legislature and the new Cabinet, the initiative is considered as detrimental to such a possibility. A Cabinet official, however, dismissed the speculation, saying that it does not matter whether the premier hears the report today because it is already the government's policy to change the names of government agencies.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
RSS