WEATHER
Temperatures to increase
Temperatures across Taiwan are to climb over the next week, with central and southern regions likely to see temperatures rise to 30°C on Thursday and Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan would still experience the effects of northeasterly winds over the weekend, with northern and northeastern parts of Taiwan proper to see cloudy weather, CWA forecaster Yeh Chih-chun (葉致均) said. A cold high-pressure system is to arrive in Taiwan today, dropping the mercury slightly in the northeastern areas. Peaks higher than 3,000m in the central and northern parts of Taiwan could experience snowfall until this morning, he said. After tomorrow, the nation would see weather patterns affected by easterly winds, meaning windward locations in the country should be aware of potential rainfall, he said. Central and southern Taiwan as well as the outlying Matsu Islands might experience foggy weather on Tuesday, he said. Additionally, with the mercury forecast to gradually climb daily starting tomorrow, temperatures across Taiwan could reach between 25°C and 26°C on Thursday and Friday, with central and southern Taiwan to see temperatures as high as 30°C, he said.
TRADE
Oyster checks to be set up
Oyster checks to be set up
A special program inspecting oysters’ countries of origin has been launched due to concerns over the false labeling of Vietnamese imports, the Fisheries Agency said last week. It said it had launched the program after local oyster suppliers reported to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) that Chinese oysters — which are banned from Taiwan — had been transshipped through Vietnam and relabeled. Suppliers in Tainan also expressed concerns to Chen that such imports were being fraudulently sold as Taiwanese, local media reports said. Chen, citing Customs Administration data, said that Vietnamese oyster imports had increased significantly over the past five years, with annual shipments into Taiwan increasing from 201 tonnes in 2019 to 3,937 tonnes last year. Responding to the case, the agency said the Ministry of Agriculture has applied technical evaluations — “TFDAF0035.00” and “TFDAF0036.00” — developed last year to identify the oysters’ places of origin. Several agencies have cooperated to track the countries of origin of all oysters on sale, while law enforcement officials would handle the cases in accordance with related legislation if any substandard oysters were found, it added.
IMMIGRATION
Four arrested over fees
Four people have been indicted for allegedly collecting up to NT$25 milion (US$798,594) in illegal brokerage fees from migrant workers since 2020, the Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office said on Thursday. An investigation launched last year following a tip-off from the National Immigration Agency’s Keelung brigade led to two Taiwanese men, surnamed Wang (王) and Wei (魏), as well as a Vietnamese woman surnamed Nguyen and her boyfriend being charged with contravening the Employment Services Act (就業服務法), document forgery and fraud, the prosecutors’ office said. The four allegedly recruited and brought about 100 Vietnamese migrant workers into Taiwan, which resulted in NT$25 million of illegal gains, it said. Prosecutors said Wang, Wei, Nguyen and 10 other people allegedly established 10 shell firms using fake documents.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
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