WEATHER
Heavy rain forecast
A stationary front brought heavy rain to the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) in Pingtung County early yesterday, resulting in flooding to a depth of 20cm in Heng-chun Township (恆春) within three hours, which blocked the northbound lane of Highway 26. The Central Weather Bureau issued torrential rain warnings for northeastern and western Taiwan, as well as parts of the south, adding that other areas are also likely to see showers or thunderstorms. The bureau said the front would continue to affect the nation’s weather through Tuesday. It said people should be alert to the danger of landslides, falling rocks and swollen rivers, as well as possible flooding in low-lying areas.
SOCIETY
Airport security tightened
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to be equipped with electric fences to step up security following a series of perimeter intrusions. Airport authorities said that about 15km of electric fencing would be erected around the airport’s apron in stages, starting in November, to keep unauthorized people out of restricted areas. The announcement comes after three Thai workers were caught fishing on May 5 near a drain inside a restricted zone in the southern wing of the airport. The trio were detained by airport police for questioning and fined NT$5,000 each for violating the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法). The investigators said the three were originally fishing in a stream outside the airport’s apron, but later crawled onto the airport grounds, where they felt the fishing would be better.
EDUCATION
Exhibition opens at NTU
An exhibition of rare specimens and artifacts held by National Taiwan University (NTU) and the University of Tokyo opened yesterday in Taipei to promote education and research, organizers said. The exhibition, titled “Extravagance: Out of Scale, Out of Norm, Out of Rule,” features about 50 specimens and replicas of rare insects, animals, plants and minerals. Items on display include a long-tailed Onagadori cock with a 4.7m-long tail, an egg and leg bone of what was once the world’s heaviest bird — the Aepyornis — the world’s heaviest insect, the world’s largest moth, precious coral specimens and a rare green sea turtle. Replicas of the world’s largest blue diamond and the world’s largest gold and platinum nuggets are also on display. The exhibition will run until Sept. 23 at the National Taiwan University Library.
POLITICS
DPP members sue police
Members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) filed lawsuits against the Taipei police yesterday for physical assault, a day after clashes between party protesters and police on Ketegalan Boulevard. The suits were filed with the Taipei District Court by DPP Greater Tainan Councilor Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) and DPP Taipei City Councilor Tung Chung-yen (童仲彥) against Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧), head of the Zhongzheng First Police Precinct covering claims of physical assault, sexual harassment and offenses against personal liberty. Tung and Wang said although Wednesday’s gathering to petition the president was legal, the police had forcefully dispersed it. Fang said the police had asked the protesters on several occasions to apply for permission to assembly, but the group had not complied. Some protesters rammed into police, who were trying to maintain order, injuring several officers in the process, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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