SEISMICITY
Hualien quake shakes nation
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan at 12:03pm yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau said. The temblor was felt throughout the country, with the shaking lasting several seconds in Taipei. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was about 29.1km southeast of Hualien City, at a depth of 5.7km, the bureau’s Seismology Center said. The quake reached 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale in Hualien County’s Shueilian (水璉) and Yanliao (鹽寮) villages. It reached an intensity of 4 elsewhere in Hualien, as well as in Taitung, Yilan, Nantou, Chiayi, Changhua and Yunlin counties, as well as in Chiayi City and Taichung. An intensity of 3 was recorded in Kaohsiung, Tainan, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, as well as in Hsinchu, Miaoli and Pingtung counties. In Taipei, Keelung, Hsinchu City and Penghu County, the quake reached 2 on the intensity scale.
AVIATION
EVA touts Clark airport route
EVA Airways yesterday announced that it is to begin direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Clark International Airport, 80km northwest of Manila, on March 30 next year. The airline is to serve the route once per day, using an Airbus A321- 200, it said. The flights are to leave Taoyuan at 9am and arrive at Clark at 11am, with return flights departing at 12pm and arriving at 2pm, it said. With the additional route, the carrier is to offer 35 flights to the Philippines per week. The new route would help shorten the travel time for residents of northern Luzon, for whom Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila is the nearest airport currently offering flights to Taiwan, the airline said, adding that it would also ease congestion on the Taoyuan-Manila route and attract travelers from Luzon to transfer in Taoyuan on their way to Europe or North America. Clark airport is at the border of Angeles and Mabalacat cities, in Pampanga province. It is at the site of an former US Air Force base, which at the time of its handover back to the Philippines in 1991 was the air force’s largest base abroad.
DIPLOMACY
EU lawmaker visits Taipei
European lawmaker Anna Fotyga, a former Polish foreign minister, yesterday arrived in Taipei for a four-day visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Fotyga, who sits on the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, is to visit the European Economic and Trade Office, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council, the statement said, adding that Fotyga is also to attend a banquet hosted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥), who served as representative to the EU and Belgium from July 2020 to October. Fotyga, who is accompanied by two aides, is to meet with government officials to discuss the situation in the Taiwan Strait, China’s multifaceted threats, the security of the Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan-EU relations, and economic cooperation between Taiwan and Poland, the foreign ministry said, adding that the visit is “a strong vote of confidence in Taiwan as a vital Indo-Pacific partner of the EU.” Fotyga is a long-time supporter of Taiwan’s democracy and voiced concern over China’s military threat against the country, it said, expressing hope that the visit would bolster cooperation and links between Taiwan and the EU.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
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