WEATHER
Rain hammers Kaohsiung
Ten of Kaohsiung’s 38 districts received the highest rainfall in the nation during yesterday’s downpours, after the Central Weather Bureau issued advisories for heavy or extremely heavy rain for eight cities and counties in central and southern Taiwan. The advisories were issued at 4am, with Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung warned to expect extremely heavy rain — meaning 200mm over 24 hours or 100mm in a three-hour period — while Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi city and county, and Taitung were told to expect heavy rain, meaning accumulated rainfall of 80mm or more over a 24-hour period, or 40mm within an hour. Between midnight on Wednesday to 8:30am yesterday, the Kaohsiung districts of Gangshan (岡山), Lujhu (路竹), Dashe (大社), Cianjhen (前鎮), Cieding (茄萣), Nanzih (楠梓), Linyuan (林園), Ciaotou (橋頭), Cijin (旗津) — which registered more than 300mm — and Yongan(永安), which recorded 296mm, were the worst affected, the bureau said.
CRIME
Sun An-tso faces new charge
Sun An-tso (孫安佐), who was deported from the US after being jailed for 238 days for threatening to shoot up his Pennsylvania high school in early 2018, was indicted by the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office on Monday with attempting to manufacture firearms in the US. The office said that Sun, the son of showbiz couple Sun Peng (孫鵬) and Di Ying (狄鶯), could face a jail term of at least three-and-a-half-years under the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例). While the charge is related to the indictments that US authorities filed against Sun An-tso, it is not the same, so the time he served in the US would not count toward a jail term in Taiwan if he is convicted in Taiwan, the indictment said. Police in Pennsylvania had found ammunition and various firearms in his bedroom, including a 9mm handgun made with parts that he had bought online. He pleaded guilty to both state and federal charges against him, and was deported by the US in December 2018. Upon his arrival in Taiwan on Dec. 11, he was taken directly to the Shilin office for questioning over possible contraventions of Taiwanese laws. He was released without bail, but barred from leaving the nation. Di Ying on Wednesday issued a statement expressing the couple’s regret at the prosecutors’ decision. She urged the Shilin District Court to be just in her son’s trial and the media not to produce exaggerated reports about her son’s case.
TRANSPORTATION
More trains for holiday
The Taiwan Railways Administration is adding nearly 200 more scheduled runs between Sept. 30 and Oct. 5 to meet an expected surge in demand for tickets during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. An additional 185 train trips are being added, including eight Fu-hsing semi-express trains from Shulin Station (樹林) in New Taipei City to Hualien from Oct. 1 to 4, the agency said on Tuesday. Two additional trains are to run between Shulin and Taitung stations during off-peak hours during the holiday, with fares for those services to be discounted by 30 percent, it said. Six more Tze-chiang express trains have been scheduled on the Hualien and Taitung routes on Sept. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 3 and Oct. 4, it said, adding that its ticketing system will require passenger’s name and national ID number for bookings on those trains so that Hualien and Taitung county residents receive priority in buying tickets.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
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