SEISMOLOGY
More earthquakes expected
More earthquakes of magnitude 3 to 4 could hit Chiayi over the next one to two weeks, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. CWA Seismological Center division chief Lee I-ting (李伊婷) said the earthquake that measured 7.2 on the Richter scale that struck off Hualien on April 3 resulted in stress adjustments in the underground fault zones in Chiayi. This might have triggered blind faults and unknown faults in western Taiwan to release energy, leading to frequent temblors occurring around the Chiayi area, Lee said, adding that the center has recorded 21 earthquakes within a 10km radius of Chiayi County’s Budai Township (布袋) since April 1. Of these, eight were concentrated within seven hours between late on Friday to early Saturday morning.
DIPLOMACY
Paraguay delegation lands
Paraguayan Senate President Silvio Adalberto Ovelar Benitez arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a five-day stay during which he is to meet with President Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文), president-elect William Lai (賴清德) and other senior government officials. Upon arrival at Taiwan, Taoyuan International Airport, Ovelar said he is happy to be invited by the government to visit the country again. Ovelar is leading a delegation consisting of Second Vice President of the Chamber of Senators Hermelinda Alvarenga de Ortega and Senator Pedro Alejandro Diaz. The trip marks Ovelar’s third visit to Taiwan. He last visited the country in 2004 as then minister of social development and during his previous stint as Senate speaker, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
FOOD
Sudan IV found in powder
A pepper powder product submitted by Taichung food industry operators for voluntary testing was found to contain an industrial dye known as Sudan IV and was being removed from store shelves, the city government announced on Saturday. The Taichung Office of Food and Drug Safety reported that the “Gu Yue powder,” supplied by Taichung-based Luye Foods Corp, tested positive for Sudan IV, a chemical classified as toxic in Taiwan. The office said it has asked 25 downstream buyers in Taichung and areas such as Changhua, Miaoli and Nantou counties as well as New Taipei City to stop selling the product and to recall it.
ELECTION
KMT wins five by-elections
Candidates belonging to or supported by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) won five of six by-elections held across Taiwan on Saturday.
The by-elections were held to fill vacant political offices across the country, including the mayorship of Miaoli City, township mayor positions in Taitung’s Dawu Township (大武), as well as Yunlin’s Huwei (虎尾) and Mailiao (麥寮) townships, a district seat in Yilan’s county council and a district seat on Taichung’s city council. KMT candidates scored victories in Miaoli, Taitung and Taichung, while independent candidates supported by the KMT won in Yilan and Huwei. In the remaining race, in Mailiao, Democratic Progressive Party member Hsu Chung-fu (許忠富) sailed to victory running as an independent. Legislator and member of the KMT’s Organizational Development Committee Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) said the results served as a reminder to president-elect William Lai (賴清德) that “the public’s dissatisfaction with the Democratic Progressive Party is ongoing.” DPP spokesman Wu Cheng (吳崢) said a variety of factors, including low turnout, were behind the party’s losses.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
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