WEATHER
Cold weather to hover
A cold air mass kept temperatures low nationwide yesterday, with the mercury falling as low as 12.3oC in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Tamsui District (淡水) early in the morning, the Central Weather Bureau said. Daytime highs ranged from 21oC to 22oC in northern Taiwan, 24oC to 25oC in central Taiwan, and 25oC to 27oC in southern Taiwan, the bureau said. Highs nationwide could increase by about 1oC today, according to forecasters. The lows are expected to rise by about 4oC across Taiwan proper tomorrow, followed by increasing chances of rain, the bureau said.
SOCIETY
Taipei named 2016 WDC
The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) in Canada announced yesterday that Taipei has won the World Design Capital (WDC) designation for 2016. City officials say they expect the event to help transform Taipei’s landscape while boosting tourism by 5 more percent. Taipei was the only contender in this year’s competition. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said Taipei is the second city in Asia to be selected as a WDC after Seoul, and the city government will launch a series of renovation projects to transform the city. The government will plant more trees along major streets and join efforts with private organizations to renovate old communities, such as the Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area, while building design centers in Neihu (內湖) and Dazhi (大直) districts to attract personnel in related industries. The city will hold a series of design exhibitions and forums in 2016, and expect to generate NT$9.6 billion (US$326 million) revenue from tourism, Hau said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Aerial film stays on top
The documentary Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above (看見台灣) has maintained its box office momentum since opening on Nov. 1, earning more than NT$62 million to date, according to its distributor, Activator Marketing Co. The film, directed by Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), has made more than NT$30 million in Taipei alone, including NT$7.04 million this past weekend, Activator said. Beyond Beauty became the highest-grossing documentary in the nation’s box office history on Nov. 10, and has now emerged as the third best-selling Taiwanese-made film this year, trailing only gangster comedy David Loman (大尾鱸鰻) and comedy Zone Pro Site (總舖師). The documentary consists of aerial shots of Taiwan’s landscape, featuring the nation’s beautiful scenery and mountains, as well as pointing out the rivers and coastlines being destroyed by human activities and natural disasters.
TECHNOLOGY
Robot teams win in Jakarta
Taiwanese students racked up eight awards at the just-concluded World Robot Olympiad in Jakarta, Indonesia, including a gold medal in the college category, the Esun Robot Association said on Monday. The gold was won by three National Chung Hsing University students who beat 18 other teams. A team from National Formosa University won fifth place in the college category. This was the first year that a college category was included in the competition and the teams had to develop robots that had to move different color balls to specific areas, as if they were supplying raw materials to several colonies on Mars. Teams from Taiwanese elementary schools placed third and eighth in the regular category, where robots were built to solve a given challenge. The Olympiad opened on Friday last week and closed on Sunday.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
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