■ EARTHQUAKES
Early morning temblor
PHOTO: YANG CHIEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale rattled a large area of central Taiwan yesterday. There were no reports of damage or casualties, the Central Weather Bureau and police said. The tremor, located 15km southeast of Taichung City, struck at 2:48am, waking residents and sending some rushing outside. Though not particularly shallow at 23km, the quake was felt in at least 12 counties and as far away as Penghu, but the strongest effects were felt in Taichung City and to the south in Yuanlin (員林), Changhua County.
■ CULTURE
Creative output rising
The output of the creative culture industry is expected to top NT$55 billion (US$1.7 billion) by 2011, from NT$47.9 billion last year, and to create more than 6,000 job opportunities, an economic official said yesterday. The forecast came after the Council for Economic Planning and Development approved a plan by the Council for Cultural Affairs to boost the development of the arts and culture industry. Under the plan, NT$5.64 billion would be invested to develop this high value-added industry over the next four years, which could boost Taiwan's international profile, a Council for Cultural Affairs official said. Meanwhile, at a separate setting, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday promised to be a president of "creativity" and "culture," saying he would increase government funding for the cultural industry from NT$20 billion to NT$30 billion.
■ HEALTH
Amoebiasis suspected
Fourteen patients in a psychiatric institution in Kaohsiung County were believed to have been infected with amoebic dysentery (amoebiasis), county health officials said yesterday. The officials said they were informed by Hualien County last Wednesday that nine patients who were transferred from Kaohsiung's Liang Jen Hospital to Yuli sanatorium had a high concentration of amoebic dysentery antibodies in their blood. Further tests showed that three of the nine were infected with the disease. The officials said they had begun disinfection work at Liang Jen Hospital and conducted tests on 105 patients. Fourteen of the patients were suspected to have been infected, although none had shown symptoms of diarrhea. Stool samples of the 14 patients will be collected three times during the next week to determine whether they have been infected, the officials said.
■ SOCIETY
Mausoleums still protected
The Ministry of National Defense said yesterday it would continue guarding the tombs of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son, president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), before handing over administration of the sites to the Taoyuan County Government. Ministry spokesman Yu Sy-tue (虞思祖) said in a briefing that following the closure on Monday of the mausoleum administration in Taoyuan County and the withdrawal of military guards at the two mausoleums, security would nevertheless continue to be provided at the sites. Ministry officials said that out of security concerns, before the handover of the mausoleums and their reopening, the military would only allow visits by Chiang family members. The Taoyuan County Government has said it would be willing to take over the administration of the two mausoleums, adding that the sites generate substantial tourism revenue.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
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