WEATHER
Week to bring summer heat
The nation is to experience warm summer weather in the coming week, with occasional afternoon showers or thunderstorms, said Daniel Wu (吳德榮), a professor of atmospheric science at National Central University and a former director of the Central Weather Bureau’s Weather Forecast Center. Today, tomorrow and Friday would be mostly sunny with occasional cloudy weather in the afternoons and intermittent showers, he said, adding that high temperatures would be 34°C to 36°C in the south and 32°C to 33°C in the north. However, on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, the weather would likely become less stable due to greater moisture, bringing occasional showers or thunderstorms, and lowering the mercury by 1°C or 2°C.
POLITICS
DPP passes resolutions
A meeting of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Election Committee, convened by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in her capacity as party chairperson, passed two resolutions yesterday. The first resolution suggested candidates for November’s local elections, recommending that the party’s Central Executive Committee recruit Hsu Ting-chen (徐定禎) as its candidate for Miaoli county commissioner, DPP Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) as its candidate for Yunlin county commissioner and Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) as its candidate for Taichung mayor. The second one recommended that the Central Executive Committee consider recruiting mayoral candidates in Keelung and Hsinchu City, instead of holding a party primary, “given the particular electoral concerns in the two constituencies.”
EXCHANGES
Tsai speaks at NATWA event
The North America Taiwanese Women’s Association (NATWA) is playing an important role in facilitating exchanges between Taiwanese and people living in North America, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the association’s annual convention yesterday. In a prerecorded video, Tsai thanked the association for promoting Taiwan in North America and said she was looking forward to more association events related to the economy, society and culture. The association, which is a non-profit organization devoted to enhancing women’s dignity, contributing to democratic development in Taiwan and networking with women’s organizations worldwide, was established in 1988, and has more than 1,000 members in the US and Canada. With Taiwan-US relations improving, Tsai said she hoped the association would foster more exchanges between the two.
SOCIETY
Taoyuan sweep arrests 43
Taoyuan police on Saturday said that over the past week, they conducted a crackdown on “criminal elements,” leading to the arrest of 43 alleged gangsters. The sweep also seized five handguns and rifles, 190 bullets, and evidence that those detained belong to major crime syndicates and local gangs, police said. The suspects were allegedly involved in extortion, protection rackets and loan-sharking, they said. Separately, Tainan police said they conducted a sweep on Saturday that resulted in the arrest of 39 suspected gang members and other criminals. Part of the same two-week nationwide crackdown on organized crime, Tainan police said they busted seven criminal groups allegedly involved in extortion, protection rackets, loan-sharking and illegal drug trafficking. More than 300 pouches of narcotic coffee powder mix were seized in one of the raids, they said.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
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