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.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the
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