DIPLOMACY
Graham sends warning
If the US fails to back Ukraine enough in the war against Russia, that would send a signal to China that it could take Taiwan, US Senator Lindsey Graham said during a visit to Kyiv on Friday. Graham, a Republican, said after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that US President Joe Biden should send more weapons to Ukraine in addition to the more than US$35 billion of weaponry and military hardware already provided. “There can be no backing off of helping Ukraine because if we fail here, there goes Taiwan,” Graham told reporters. “If you’re running for president, as a Republican or Democrat, I don’t know how you can make the argument that we’re stronger against China if we pull the plug on Ukraine — that makes zero sense. What I want the Chinese to see is that invading a neighbor is not as easy as it looks.” “The best way to protect Taiwan and world order is for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to lose,” he added.
SOCIETY
Children swept out to sea
A 12-year-old boy has been found dead and a female junior-high school student remains missing after the two were swept out to sea in separate incidents along the east coast yesterday, local authorities said. Emergency services in Hualien County at about noon received a report of a child at sea. Coast guard personnel rescued the boy, surnamed Chou (周), but failed to locate a second boy, surnamed Lee (李), who was also missing. Lee, Chou and a third boy had been playing on the shore when Chou was swept into the sea by a strong wave, police said. Lee jumped in the water to rescue him, while the other boy ran home to call for help. Lee was later found unresponsive with a head injury. Meanwhile, authorities continued to search for a female student, surnamed Liu (柳), who went missing after being swept into the sea while walking along the shore in Yilan County.
DIPLOMACY
NZ lawmakers to visit
Two New Zealand lawmakers are to visit Taiwan from today through Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday. They are to meet with senior officials to discuss issues of mutual concern, it said. Brooke Van Velden, deputy head of ACT New Zealand, and James McDowall, ACT spokesperson for Immigration, Defense, Tourism, Internal Affairs, Economic Development, Civil Defense, and Research, Science, and Innovation, are members of the New Zealand All-Party Parliamentary Group, which was formed in March to promote exchanges with Taiwanese lawmakers. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan-New Zealand economic cooperation agreement.
SOCIETY
Body of river tracer found
The remains of a river tracing group member swept away by a surging waterfall in Pingtung County last weekend were recovered on Saturday, rescuers said. The remains of the man surnamed Hsiao (蕭) were spotted on Friday, but search-and-rescue personnel were unable to retrieve the body until the next day due to poor weather conditions, the county’s Bureau of Fire and Emergency Services said. The incident occurred at the Flying Dragon Waterfall in Wutai Township (霧台) on May 20, when five of the 10-people group were swept away by surging waters triggered by heavy rainfall. The remaining members of the group were stranded on a cliff and rescued by a helicopter the following morning.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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