HEALTH
Cases stay above 40,000
Daily new COVID-19 cases in Taiwan exceeded 40,000 for the third consecutive day yesterday, as the nation confirmed 45,269 new local infections and 57 deaths from the disease, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said. The deceased ranged in age from their teens to their 90s, and all but four had underlying health issues, such as cancer and kidney-related diseases, CECC data showed. New Taipei City reported the highest number of new cases, with 9,775, followed by Taichung with 5,854, Taipei with 5,401, Taoyuan with 4,758, Kaohsiung with 3,704 and Tainan with 2,662, the CECC said in a statement. Changhua County had 2,091 new cases, Hsinchu County 1,304, Hsinchu City 1,204, Pingtung County 1,140, Miaoli County 1,089, Yilan County 1,050, Keelung 975 and Yunlin County 972. Nantou County had 842 cases, Hualien County 689, Chiayi County 685, Chiayi City 461, Taitung County 289, Kinmen County 161, Penghu County 142, and Lienchiang County 21, the CECC said.
TRANSPORTATION
Truck stops rail services
Train services between New Taipei City’s Fulong (福隆) and Yilan County’s Dali (大里) were briefly suspended yesterday after a tractor-trailer truck traveling along Provincial Highway No. 2 overturned and became stuck on a hillside above the railway tracks, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA). Police said the incident occurred near the highway’s 116km marker at about 7:48am, when the truck’s driver lost control of his vehicle and slammed through the guardrails along the roadside. The truck overturned and crashed into a thicket of trees, coming to rest on a hillside just 10m above the tracks. Service was restored on the outer track at 1pm and on the inner track at about 2:30pm, the TRA said. The driver, surnamed Huang (黃), freed himself after the incident and was treated in a hospital for minor injuries. A breath alcohol test conducted at the scene came back negative, police said.
TRADE
Deals signed for US crops
An agricultural mission on an official trip to Washington on Wednesday signed three letters of intent with US exporters to buy US$3.2 billion of crops next year and in 2024. Witnessed by 28 US lawmakers and several legislators from Taiwan, the delegation, led by Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城), signed the pacts with US agricultural industry associations to purchase soybeans, corn and wheat. Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said agricultural products play an important role in the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade. Taipei and Washington are scheduled to hold the first round of negotiations this fall on the trade initiative covering 11 areas with the goal of working toward a trade agreement.
DIPLOMACY
Pact signed with Belize
Belize yesterday signed a coast guard cooperation agreement with Taiwan covering search and rescue, fisheries enforcement and combating transnational crime at sea. Belizean Minister of National Defense and Border Security Florencio Marin Jr said the pact is part of Belize’s military diplomacy to strengthen partnership with its allies, the Belizean Ministry of National Defense and Border Security said in a statement. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agreement was first signed by then-Ocean Affairs Council minister Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) in Taiwan and sent to Marin Jr to be signed in Belize.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
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