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.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
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