ENVIRONMENT
Taiwan observes Earth Hour
Several of Taiwan’s major landmarks, including the Presidential Office Building and Taipei 101, joined cities around the globe to observe Earth Hour by turning off their lights from 8:30pm to 9:30pm yesterday. The observance of Earth Hour in Taiwan last year saved about 120,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, the equivalent of 60 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, which equates to planting nearly 5,800 trees, Taiwan Power Co said in a press release. A total of 900,000kWh of electricity has been saved since Taiwan began observing Earth Hour in 2010, it added. The annual global event encourages individuals, communities and businesses to turn off non-essential lights for one hour as a symbol of their commitment to help the planet.
WEATHER
Temperatures to rise
With easterly winds bringing warm air, temperatures in central and southern Taiwan were as high as 32°C yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau said. Daniel Wu (吳德榮), a former director of the bureau’s Weather Forecast Center who is now an adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University, said that temperatures across Taiwan are expected to rise further over the next few days. Wu said that a front is expected to arrive in Taiwan on Sunday next week, but it could be mild, so temperatures would only drop slightly. The weather system is also unlikely to bring heavy rains, he added. Meanwhile, due to a lack of wind, air quality in west Taiwan was poor yesterday, the Environmental Protection Administration said. Air quality could deteriorate early this morning, triggering a “red” alert — which signals unhealthy air quality — in some parts of Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan counties, it said.
TRANSPORTATION
Green Line ‘improved’
People in Taichung have expressed satisfaction with the city’s new MRT Green Line, which resumed trial runs on Thursday after a four-month suspension due to mechanical problems. Some passengers said that the stability of the ride has improved, and the overall service is better than when the first trial runs were launched in November last year. The Green Line, the first line on Taichung’s MRT system to be completed, was forced to halt its initial test run six days after it began on Nov. 16 last year. The city government said that couplings between the cars had not been assembled properly. A new date, April 25, has now been set for the start of commercial services, and free rides are being offered from 6am to midnight daily until April 23, the city government said.
TOURISM
Flight offers views of Japan
EVA Airways conducted a one-off flight over Japan yesterday, offering passengers a view of Emihe Prefecture in partnership with the local government, the carrier said. Before the flight departed Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), the prefecture’s mascot, Mikyan, performed at a ceremony to welcome the 180 passengers before they boarded an Airbus A321-200 for the five-hour round trip. Passengers viewed Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, including several volcanoes, such as Mount Aso and Sakurajima, before flying over Emihe on Shikoku Island, EVA Airways spokesman David Chen (陳耀銘) said. They saw the bridges that connect Shikoku and Honshu islands, as well as Matsuyama Castle, he said. The tour also included a view of the Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, EVA said. It was EVA’s second such flight over Japan.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
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