Air and sea traffic between Taiwan proper and outlying islands was disrupted yesterday as Typhoon Mawar edged toward the country, with 10 ferry routes suspended and 22 domestic flights canceled, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said.
Thirty-five ferry journeys were suspended yesterday morning, including the service between Keelung and Lienchiang County (Matsu), and Fuao Harbor (福澳港) in the county’s Nangan Township (南竿) and Langqi in China’s Fujian Province.
Ferries from Chiayi County’s Budai Township (布袋) to Penghu County’s Magong (馬公), from Tainan’s Jiangjun District (將軍) to Penghu’s Dongji Island (東吉嶼), and from Taitung County’s Fugang Harbor (富岡漁港) to Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) were also canceled, the ministry said.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
As of 10am yesterday, 22 domestic flights linking Taitung with Orchid and Green islands had been canceled, but international flights were not affected, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said.
As a result of the disruptions, 330 travelers were stranded on Green Island and 478 on Orchid Island, the transportation ministry said.
The Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) is warning people in Yilan and Hualien counties, and New Taipei City to brace for downpours and strong winds as Mawar nears.
People in mountainous areas in Taoyuan and Hsinchu County should also prepare for heavy rain, which is expected to continue through today, it said.
Hsiao Huan-chang (蕭煥章), deputy head of the CEOC and deputy director-general of the National Fire Agency, said the center was issuing warnings for landslides and falling rocks that could affect sections of highways, including Provincial Highway No. 7 from Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪) to Yilan, a section connecting Taichung’s Heping District (和平) with Yilan and a section linking New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽) with Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興).
The typhoon was yesterday about 440km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and moving north-northeast at 14kph. It had maximum sustained winds of 119kph, with gusts up to 155kph, the Central Weather Bureau said.
Mawar is forecast to continue moving north-northeast over the next 24 hours, the bureau said, adding that it expects to lift a sea warning at about 5:30pm.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard