WEATHER
Storm not a worry: CWA
A low-pressure system in the northwestern Pacific that was early yesterday upgraded to a tropical storm named Jongdari would not affect Taiwan directly, but might bring heavy rain to the south, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system had been over waters east of the nation and south of Okinawa before it intensified into the ninth tropical storm of the year in the region at 2am yesterday, it said. The storm would have no direct impact on Taiwan as it drifts northward toward the East China Sea and South Korea, it said. Jongdari was 450km east of Taipei at 8am, moving at 17kph to 30kph in a north-northwesterly direction. It had maximum sustained winds of up to 65kph, with gusts reaching up to 90kph, CWA data showed. The storm’s movement might bring heavy rain to central and southern Taiwan as the southwesterly seasonal winds strengthen today, the agency said. Taiwan is currently influenced by the intertropical convergence zone and southwesterly seasonal winds, which could cause rainfall in Taiwan’s southern areas, CWA forecaster Chen Pei-an (陳姵安) said. With Jongdari moving northward, precipitation is expected to expand to Yunlin County today, she said. Meanwhile, the country would experience exceptionally high tides from yesterday to Friday, the CWA said. People in low-lying areas near the coastline from New Taipei City to Chiayi County should be on guard against seawater intrusion, Chen said.
DIPLOMACY
Francois Wu takes new post
Former representative to France Francois Wu (吳志中) on Sunday officially assumed the post of deputy minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Wu, who became the representative to France in 2018, was previously deputy minister of foreign affairs from May 20, 2016, to July 2018 during the administration of then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). Immediately after his inauguration on May 20, President William Lai (賴清德) named Wu deputy minister of foreign affairs following six years in Paris. However, Wu remained in his post until the conclusion of the Paris Olympics before returning to Taiwan, the ministry said. His successor is Hao Pei-chih (郝培芝), former head of the Civil Service Protection and Training Commission. Hao is the first woman to serve as Taiwan’s top envoy to France. She was a member of the advisory committee at the Mainland Affairs Council from 2007 to 2009.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
The first tropical storm of the year in the western North Pacific, Wutip (蝴蝶), has formed over the South China Sea and is expected to move toward Hainan Island off southern China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The agency said a tropical depression over waters near the Paracel and Zhongsha islands strengthened into a tropical storm this morning. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 64.8kph, with peak gusts reaching 90kph, it said. Winds at Beaufort scale level 7 — ranging from 50kph to 61.5kph — extended up to 80km from the center, it added. Forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping
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