SOCIETY
Man dies during race
A 25-year-old man participating in the Sun Moon Lake International Swimming Carnival yesterday fell ill soon after entering the water and was later pronounced dead, local authorities said. The man, surnamed Yuan (袁), removed his swim cap, signaling distress, about 100m into the annual 3,000m swimming competition across Taiwan’s largest lake, the Nantou County Government said. Emergency personnel quickly pulled Yuan onto a raft and transferred him into an ambulance, by which time he was already suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, it said, adding that he was later pronounced dead at Puli Christian Hospital. Yuan had not drowned and his cause of death was still being investigated, it added. The swimmer’s death cast a shadow over the popular event, which this year attracted more than 24,000 competitors from 33 countries.
Photo: Hsieh Chieh-yu, Taipei Times
POLITICS
Hou You-yi takes leave
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, went on leave starting from Saturday and would be absent from his mayoral post until the end of the year to focus on his campaign, the New Taipei City Government said. A KMT legislative candidate, who asked not to be identified, welcomed the move, adding that Hou had been much less active on the campaign trail compared with his rivals. Democratic Progressive Party New Taipei City councilors criticized Hou for taking 113 days off, longer than mayor-candidates in previous elections. Lin Cheng-yi (林正壹), head of the New Taipei City Personnel Department, said that mayors can roll their unused annual leave days over to the next year until the end of their term in office, and they have seven days of paid leave each year. As Hou has unused leave days dating back to 2021, he can take 77 days off in the remainder of this year, Lin said.
POLITICS
Chiang leaves for Seoul
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday morning left Taiwan to attend the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum in Seoul, where he would give a speech on creativity and innovation. “I have two missions for my visit — one being urban diplomacy and the other youth development,” Chiang said before departing for the three-day forum from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport). Chiang said he would meet with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon at the forum that started yesterday and ends tomorrow, to celebrate 55 years of sisterhood between the two capitals and to sign a memorandum of understanding on youth affairs cooperation. The forum, which highlights inclusivity and sustainability in urban development this year, brings together about 200 participants, including about 50 mayors.
TRAFFIC
Nantou cycling route opens
A new 600m cycle route that crosses part of Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou County was opened on Saturday, with the aim of making biking around the lake safer and more enjoyable for visitors. The route connects Ita Thao Pier (伊達邵) with the cable car station on the east side of the Sun Moon Lake cycling network, which has been chosen as one of the world’s top 10 cycling paths by CNNGo, the Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Headquarters said. The route, which cost NT$80 million (US$2.49 million), was built to make biking safer and give cyclists the option to ride closer to the water, officials said.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
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