NATIONAL DEFENSE
SET News report ‘untrue’
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday rejected a SET News report that a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force aircraft was spotted traveling near the M503 flight route along the median line of the Taiwan Strait. The PLA Air Force yesterday morning conducted drills that included a Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane traveling close to the M503 route, the first time a PLA plane has traveled along the route, the report said. Air Force Command Headquarters in Taipei dismissed the report as untrue, saying the plane flew west of the median line as part of a training program, but added that it had scrambled a fighter jet in response. The military was in full control of the situation and is fully able to ensure national security, it added.
ENVIRONMENT
Penghu releases 15 turtles
Penghu County Government yesterday released 15 green turtles and hawksbill turtles into the sea before a cheering audience of about 100 elementary-school children, residents and tourists. Nine of the turtles had been rescued by fishermen and Coast Guard Administration personnel after being found injured or having eaten plastic bags, Penghu County Commissioner Chen Kuang-fu (陳光復) said. The others had been born in 2015 or 2016 and taken into care by the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center, Chen said. The shelter at the center has cared for 389 sea turtles, including 327 green turtles and 50 hawksbill turtles, since it was established in 1997. It has released more than 230 into the wild and is caring for 43 more.
TOURISM
Taoyuan eyes immigrants
Taoyuan has introduced new travel packages showcasing scenic spots and festivals to give recent immigrants to the nation a glimpse of the city’s beauty and culture, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said yesterday. The city is home to about 110,000 migrant workers and 58,000 foreign spouses, Cheng said during a radio interview. The city’s plan was developed in line with the central government’s policy to form closer ties with Southeast Asian nations. For NT$600 for a single-day trip, participants would be able to visit major tourist attractions and take part in local festivals, he said. Taoyuan Association of Travel Agents head Lu Chung-hao (呂中豪) said the plan was targeting immigrants and migrant workers from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Taoyuan Tourism Department Director Yang Sheng-ping (楊勝評) said bilingual guides would accompany the tours to help participants gain a better understanding of Taoyuan.
WEATHER
Taipei feels the heat
Taipei yesterday saw the mercury reach 35.2°C at 1:03pm, the highest in the city this year, the Central Weather Bureau said. The weather will be even hotter from today as the nation comes under the influence of southwesterly winds, the bureau said.
EDUCATION
Team win physics medals
A team of eight high-school students won four gold, one silver and three bronze medals at the 19th Asian Physics Olympiad held from May 5 to Saturday in Hanoi, Vietnam. The medal haul put Taiwan, together with Vietnam, in third place at the annual regional event, which drew 188 competitors from 25 nations. Participants took an exam on experimental physics on Monday and a theoretical exam on Wednesday. The team was selected from 1,847 hopefuls at 143 schools.
‘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
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
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
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
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