ECONOMY
Taiwan 12th in gold reserves
Taiwan ranked 12th in global gold reserves in the first quarter of the year, according to a Forbes report, citing data from the World Gold Council (WGC). Taiwan had 423 tonnes of gold reserves, equivalent to about US$28 billion, Forbes reported on Friday last week. The US had the most gold reserves in the world, with almost as much as the combined total of the next three countries on the list, the magazine reported. According to the WGC data, the US had 8,133 tonnes of gold reserves, worth about US$579 billion. It was followed by Germany with 3,352 tonnes (US$238 billion), Italy with 2,451 tonnes (US$174 billion) and France with 2,436 tonnes (US$173 billion). Rounding out the top 10 list were Russia, China, Switzerland, Japan, India and the Netherlands, the WGC data showed. Gold reserves are critical for the economic stability of a country, acting as a reliable store of value, particularly during financial uncertainties, the magazine said.
Photo: Bloomberg
SEISMICITY
Two quakes jolt Hualien
An earthquake, which measured 4.8 on the Richter scale, struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 9:27am yesterday, followed by a magnitude 4.4 earthquake a minute later, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the first earthquake was at sea, 21.2km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 5.4km, CWA data showed. The temblor’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, was highest in Hualien County, where it measured 4 on the nation’s 7-tier intensity scale. The second earthquake’s epicenter was also at sea, 21.2km south-southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 6.1km. Its intensity was highest in Hualien County, where it measured 4. No immediate damage or injuries were reported.
CRIME
Police investigate death
Yilan County police are investigating the case of an absconded Thai migrant worker who died and whose body was allegedly dumped at a dam last week by his employer, wife and two friends. Police said it launched an investigation after it was contacted on Tuesday by the Thailand Trade and Economic Office. Relatives of the man, who was in his 30s, contacted the office after being notified that he had died, police said. The relatives, who live in Thailand, provided information including the license plate number of the man’s boss. Police summoned the employer, surnamed Lin (林), who admitted the man died on Monday afternoon last week. According to police, Lin said he did not report the death because he had been employing the man, who had illegally overstayed his visa. Lin said he, along with the man’s wife and two Thai friends, disposed of the man’s body at a dam. The man’s wife said he had become ill recently and did not seek medical attention because of his undocumented status, police said. After the man’s death, the wife contacted Lin to ask for help and they decided to dispose of his body, it said. Based on Lin’s account, police were able to locate the man’s body, which did not have any signs of external injury. Police are waiting for an autopsy to determine cause of death. They have referred Lin, the man’s wife and two friends to Yilan prosecutors on suspicion of abandoning of a corpse. Lin would also face penalties for illegally employing a foreign worker, police said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
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