WEATHER
Roke could bring rains
A tropical storm that has formed off Taiwan could bring rain to northern areas by tomorrow, but the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday it could not yet forecast whether the storm would make landfall. Tropical Storm Roke was centered 1,140km east of Taipei as of 8am yesterday, the bureau said. It was moving in a west-northwesterly direction at a speed of 17kph, packing maximum sustained winds of 65kph, with gusts of 90kph, the bureau said. Because there is no regional steering flow to influence the storm’s direction, it might linger near the Ryukyu Islands for a few days, the bureau said. Though it is not yet known whether Roke will hit Taiwan, the bureau said that its outer bands might begin to affect the nation this weekend, increasing the chance of rain in northern and northeastern areas.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
China mulls ‘Seediq Bale’
The Chinese government would be delighted to see Taiwanese blockbuster Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (彩虹戰士:賽德克巴萊) released on the big screen in China, Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Fan Liqing (范麗青) said on Wednesday. If the Taiwanese company that produced the film asks to release it in China, “we are willing to make it happen,” Fan said. However, Chinese authorities have so far not received any formal application from the company, Fan said. The film is based on the Wushe Incident, an uprising in Taiwan that was led by Aboriginal Seediq hero Mona Rudao against Japanese occupation forces in the 1930s. The blockbuster debuted in Taiwan on Friday last week, grossing more than NT$140 million (US$4.7 million) at the box office by Tuesday. “We are still waiting for the result of the review by Chinese authorities,” said the production company, ARS Film Production.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
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,
RSS