WEATHER
Sea warning likely today
A sea warning is likely to be issued today as a tropical storm southeast of Taiwan approaches, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The Tropical Storm Hagupit, which was 750km east of the nation’s southern tip at 2pm yesterday, was moving at 20km per hour in a northwesterly direction, the bureau said. The Hagupit storm might cause surging waves starting today, the bureau said. Tropical Storm Sinlaku, which formed yesterday afternoon south of China’s Hainan Island, is not expected to affect Taiwan, but would move toward southeast China and Vietnam over the next few days, forecasters said.
CRIME
Chinese dredgers detained
The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said that it arrested eight Chinese crew members aboard a China-registered vessel that was caught dredging sea sand in waters around the Penghu archipelago. The Hai Sheng 877 was intercepted at about 5am on Thursday after it was spotted illegally operating 56 nautical miles (104km) southwest of Cimei Township (七美). Coast guard personnel seized nearly 600 tonnes of sea sand. The crew members were turned over to the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung pending further investigation. The coast guard said that from January to this month, its personnel chased 2,988 Chinese dredging vessels found to be operating illegally in Taiwanese waters.
CULTURE
Miaobei festival scheduled
A festival featuring top orchestras and theater groups from across the country is to be held in Miaoli County for the first time in October to promote the appreciation of culture in the area. The Miaobei Arts Festival — scheduled for Oct. 2 to Dec. 20 at the Miaobei Arts Center — aims to attract locals and visitors from across the country to visit Miaoli, center artistic director Lin Chia-ying (林佳瑩) said. Some of the groups that are to perform include the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, the Godot Theatre Company and the Shining Youth League of Tang Mei Yun Taiwanese Opera Company, Lin added. Information on performance times and scheduling can be found on the Miaobei Art Center’s Web site.
ENTERTAINMENT
VR projects go to Venice
Two local virtual reality (VR) projects — Great Hoax: The Moon Landing and Jiou Jia (Home) — have been included in the “Venice VR Expanded” section of this year’s Venice Film Festival. The two projects would be among 44 immersive works from 24 countries to be presented online during the 77th Venice International Film Festival, held Sept. 2 to 12. The comedy Great Hoax: The Moon Landing, by Taiwanese film director John Hsu (徐漢強) has been shortlisted for an award with 30 other immersive projects. The 17-minute film, a collaboration with Argentinian VR, film and animation studio 3dar, allows the viewer to play an astronaut faking a moon landing, while listening to the directions of a film director. Jiou Jia (Home), a collaboration by Taiwanese director Hsu Chih-yen (許智彥) and Funique VR Studio, was selected to be presented in the out-of-competition section with eight other works. The 18-minute film portrays a summer afternoon when various family members return to the family property to visit their grandmother.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
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