DIPLOMACY
Fishery committee meets
Taiwan and Japan are from yesterday to Sunday holding their latest round of meetings in Taipei to resolve fishing disputes. The 10th meeting of the Taiwan-Japan Fishery Committee is to discuss and potentially update fishing regulations to help resolve frequent disputes between Taiwanese and Japanese fishers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release. Such issues tend to arise due to the overlapping of both countries’ exclusive economic zones in the East China Sea, the ministry said. This year’s meeting would again be convened by the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association. The ministry did not specify who would be in attendance, but usually officials from both countries’ fisheries agencies and coast guards are present. The Taiwan-Japan Fishery Committee was founded following the signing of the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement on April 10, 2013, to help resolve fishing-related disputes between the two nations in the East China Sea. The committee has met nine times, with Tokyo and Taipei taking turns to host.
TRANSPORTATION
Airport holds rehearsal
Lighting in certain areas of both terminals of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was intermittently dimmed for three hours starting at midnight yesterday as a rehearsal for “Earth Hour.” “Earth Hour” is an annual event started in Sydney in 2007 by the World Wide Fund for Nature to encourage people and businesses worldwide to switch off their lights for an hour to raise awareness of environmental issues. Passengers and staff at the airport early yesterday were informed through electronic boards and announcements in the terminals to minimize disruption to airport operations, the company said. The airport is to participate in the official “Earth Hour” event on Saturday next week from 8:30pm to 9:30pm with intermittent dimming or reduction of lighting in the same areas, it said.
ENVIRONMENT
NASA aircraft arrive
NASA on Wednesday deployed two research aircraft to Taiwan for a third time to help the nation improve its air quality management, the Ministry of Environment said in a statement. Like previous ones on Feb. 15 and Feb. 28, Wednesday’s flights to Taiwan are part of its Seven SouthEast Asian Studies Mission, a project monitoring air quality across Asia, the ministry said. The aircraft — a DC8 and a GIII — arrived at about 10:40am and were set to operate for two hours in the skies above Taiwan, it said. Department of Monitoring and Information Director-General Hsieh Ping-hui (謝炳輝) said that the DC8 flew from South Korea and the GIII from the Philippines. The GIII was to cruise between Pingtung and Taichung, while the DC8 was set to cruise between Tainan and Pingtung and at Tainan and Chiayi airports to analyze the impacts of topography, atmospheric circulation and pollutant sources on air quality, it said.
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DIPLOMACY
Tsai congratulates pope
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday sent a congratulatory message to Pope Francis on the 11th anniversary of his election to the papacy, on behalf of the government and Taiwanese. Taiwanese share “profound respect for the compassionate path that you have steered during your leadership of the Catholic church,” Tsai wrote in the message, which was posted on the Facebook page of Taiwan’s embassy in the Holy See. Tsai also lauded Pope Francis for having “striven tirelessly to promote peace and goodwill, particularly in Ukraine and Palestine.” Taiwan “will continue to welcome any opportunity to work together to advance human fraternity, reconciliation, relief for the suffering, and care for our common home — Earth,” Tsai said. As the pope continues to inspire the world to “pursue the ideals of peace, justice, democracy and freedom,” Tsai offered her prayers for his good health, resilience and success. The embassy also posted images of Pope Francis and Tsai that were drawn using generative AI to join in Tsai’s tributes. The Vatican is one of 12 sovereign entities and the only one in Europe that maintains official diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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