WEATHER
Temperature to reach 36°C
Cloudy to sunny skies are forecast for central and southern Taiwan this week with temperatures expected to reach as high as 36°C, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday.
With a warm easterly wind system likely to set in, stable weather conditions are expected to continue in the southern half of the country over the week, with daytime temperatures expected to range between 32°C and 34°C, the CWA said, adding that the mercury in mountainous areas is likely to reach 36°C. As for northern Taiwan, the weather is expected to stabilize from Sunday next week after a weak northeasterly wind system quickly moves past the north, with highs forecast to range from 31°C to 32°C until Tuesday. In the second half of tomorrow, northern Taiwan is expected to see increased cloud cover and sporadic showers are possible, cooling the weather, with daytime temperatures forecast to range between 28°C and 29°C for the remainder of the week, it said.
DEFENSE
Ten PLA aircraft cross line
Ten of 16 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft that were identified as operating around Taiwan in the 24-hour period starting at 6am on Friday crossed the the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. Of the 10 aircraft that crossed the median line, an unspecified number flew as close as 61 nautical miles (113km) off Taichung, flight paths released by the ministry showed. Two of the 16 PLA aircraft entered Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone between 8:24am and 4:57pm on Friday, flying as close as 48 nautical miles off Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, as shown by the flight paths. Eight PLA Navy vessels were also detected in waters off Taiwan, it said. The ministry said the defence forces monitored the situation and deployed combat air patrol aircraft, vessels and coastal missile defense systems in response.
DIPLOMACY
MOFA urges no Iran travel
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday called on people to avoid unnecessary travel to Israel and Iran, citing reports of a potential direct attack on Israeli territory by Iran in the coming days. The ministry issued the advice after Iran vowed to retaliate following the bombing of its embassy in Damascus, Syria, by Israel on April 1. People engaged in business or travel in Israel and Iran should remain vigilant, the ministry said, adding that it has directed the Taiwanese representative office in Israel to maintain close contact with the local expatriate community. In the event of an emergency when visiting the region, Taiwan nationals are advised to call its Taipei headquarters’ toll free hotline at +886-800-085-095 to seek assistance, it said. They can also call Taiwan’s representative offices in Israel at +972-544-275-204 and in Dubai at +971-50-6453018, as well as the Taiwan Trade Center in Tehran at +98-21-8879-4243.
DIPLOMACY
Taiwanese evacuate Haiti
Three of Taiwan’s technical mission members based in Haiti’s Artibonite region have been evacuated to the neighboring Dominican Republic amid escalating unrest in Artibonite, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. A total of 15 Taiwanese nationals, including the country’s ambassador, embassy staff and Taiwanese businesspeople, are still in Haiti, and the embassy continues to function normally, it said, adding that it would continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate measures.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
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