MILITARY
Mirage 2000 search continues
The military yesterday said it would continue to search for a Mirage 2000 fighter piloted by Captain Ho Tzu-yu (何子雨) that went missing during a training flight in November last year. Air Force Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Chang Yen-ting (張延廷) said the military would not give up hope of finding Ho, who lost contact with a control tower on Nov. 7 at 6:43pm about 60 nautical miles (111km) north of Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼). Ho is part of the Hsinchu-based 499th Tactical Fighter Wing and went missing during a regular nighttime training exercise. The military has only been able to identify where the jet lost contact, but has found neither Ho nor his aircraft. The military is to help Ho’s family hold ceremonies to wish him good luck, Chang said, in response to Ho’s wife two days ago writing on her Facebook page that it has been six months since her husband went missing. Regardless, she remains hopeful, as nothing has been found yet, she wrote.
WORKFORCE
Fewer rules for foreign artists
A new rule that no longer requires foreign entertainers to get formal approval from venues where they intend to perform took effect on Friday, the Ministry of Labor said. Amendments to the qualifications and criteria for foreign nationals undertaking jobs specified under Article 46.1.1 to 46.1.6 of the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) included removing restrictions on foreign nationals hired to engage in the arts and performing arts in Taiwan, making it easier for them to put on a show. Employers previously had to obtain documents from the public agency with jurisdiction over the performance venue where the foreign national wanted to perform, which gave the entertainer approval to perform at the venue, the Workforce Development Agency said.
WEATHER
Quake jolts eastern Taiwan
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake yesterday jolted eastern Taiwan at 12:17pm, the Central Weather Bureau said. No casualties or damage were immediately reported. The epicenter of the earthquake was at sea about 19.3km southeast of Hualien County Hall at a depth of 43.7km, the bureau’s Seismology Center said. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Hualien’s coastal Jici (磯崎) area, where it measured 3 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The earthquake could also be felt in other parts of Taiwan, with intensity levels of 1 and 2.
CRIME
Taiwanese detained in Sydney
Two Taiwanese were earlier this week arrested in Australia in connection with a haul of 200kg of crystal methamphetamine, which has a street value of more than US$130 million, Australian media reported. The shipment of the illegal drug, commonly known as “ice,” is believed to have arrived in Sydney from Malaysia on a container ship on April 21 disguised as tea and concealed inside metal machinery, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The two men, aged 22 and 29, were on Wednesday arrested along with a 22-year-old Chinese near a warehouse in southwest Sydney, when they were trying to dismantle the apparatus, the newspaper said. All three men, believed to have traveled to Australia for the sole purpose of receiving and distributing the drug shipment, have been charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border-controlled drugs, it 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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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