WEATHER
Holiday weekend starts cold
The four-day 228 Peace Memorial Day weekend is to start with cold temperatures in the mid-to-low teens in most of Taiwan tomorrow, the Central Weather Bureau said, adding that the temperatures would increase on Monday and Tuesday. A cold front is forecast to arrive in the north this afternoon and affect the rest of the country tomorrow and on Sunday, the bureau said. There would be a chance of intermittent showers in the north and east, while other regions would see mostly cloudy to sunny skies, it said. As the cold front eases on Monday and Tuesday, temperatures would climb above 20°C in much of Taiwan, it said, adding that areas along the north coast and eastern Taiwan could continue to see occasional rain.
DIPLOMACY
Turkey donations top NT$1bn
Donations by members of the public to a government fund set up to help people affected by a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria earlier this month have exceeded NT$1 billion (US$32.9 million), the Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Wednesday. The ministry said it is planning to collect donations until March 6. As of 5pm on Tuesday, donations had reached NT$1.01 billion, the ministry said. People wanting to make a donation can transfer money to the fund’s Bank of Taiwan account (003001727277), it said, adding that they can also transfer funds to a Central Bank Treasury Department account (270750) or to a dedicated post office account (50269506). The accounts are named “Ministry of Health and Welfare Disaster Relief Account” (衛生福利部賑災專戶). For donations from abroad, people can wire money to a Mega International Commercial Bank account (00709118680), using the Swift code: “ICBCTWTP007.” The account name is “Ministry of Health and Welfare Donation A/C,” the ministry said, asking people to type “Turkey Earthquake Project” in the “reference” field.
TRANSPORTATION
Auction draws crowd
About 300 people on Wednesday took part in a Taiwan Railways Administration auction of unclaimed items from the lost and found at New Taipei City’s Shulin Station. More than 100 items were auctioned, ranging from designer bags and watches to a Giant-brand bicycle and a full set of golf clubs. Stationmaster Wu Chia-yang (吳佳陽) said the items had been kept for two years, as required by law. Cameras were among the most sought-after items, while the 14 golf clubs sold for only NT$5,500. Contested bidding for a Nintendo Switch console with seven games pushed its price up from NT$7,000 to NT$13,000.
CULTURE
Asia dance tour returns
The Asian Dance Tour Taipei Open is to return to the Taipei Arena on Tuesday after a three-year hiatus, featuring 300 international dancers from 30 countries. Prices for the winners total US$85,000. The tour is to stop in Tokyo on Sunday and move on for a stop in Seoul after the Taipei competition. The annual tour was not held in the past three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. World Amateur Latin Champions and Blackpool Amateur Latin Champions Troels Bager and Ina Jeliazkova are scheduled to compete at the Taipei event. Other top international dancers include Stanislav Zelianin and Irina Cherepanova, who finished third at the World Ballroom Dance Champions in Blackpool, England, in October last year.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
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