WEATHER
Year’s hottest day in Taipei
The temperature in Taipei yesterday rose to 36.1?C, the highest the city has seen so far this year, the Central Weather Bureau said. The high was recorded at 2:14pm. It is not uncommon to see such high temperatures in Taipei in May, the bureau said, adding that the record high for the month is 37.7?C, set in 1991, followed by 37.2?C in 2007. As of 3:50pm, the mercury hit annual highs in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), Keelung and Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳) surging to 34.7?C, 34.5?C and 32.8?C respectively. The bureau said that the weather nationwide is likely to stay sunny to cloudy for the first half of the day with thunderstorms in the afternoon until Tuesday next week. The weather is likely to turn unstable on Wednesday and Thursday, it said, adding that temperatures are expected to drop to about 30?C.
EARTHQUAKES
Mobile alerts for 4G users
Mobile phone users in the nation as of this week, are to be sent alerts whenever a strong earthquake strikes. Earthquake information will be automatically sent to 4G mobile phone users living in areas affected by earthquakes. A warning message is to be sent if the quake is a magnitude 5 or more and has an intensity of 5 or greater, the Executive Yuan said. The alert system was launched by the National Communications Commission to help people be aware of seismic information as quickly as possible so that they can take the necessary precautions and evacuation measures, the Executive Yuan said. Upon receiving an alert, the mobile phone will vibrate and make a sound, the Executive Yuan said. It added that mobile phone alerts about mudslides, road and bridge closures and other disasters are also set to begin before July.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
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