WEATHER
Cold alerts issued
Snow fell on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County on Friday night and early yesterday morning, accumulating to 2cm to 3cm, while the nation’s highest mountain, Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山), also saw snowfall accumulate to as thick as 3cm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Highway Bureau’s Central Region Branch Office cautioned drivers heading up the mountains to be mindful of slippery roads and that parts of some paths are restricted to vehicles with snow chains. Yilan County’s Taipingshan (太平山) saw sleet early yesterday morning. After patrolling the area, the Yilan branch of the Forest and Nature Conservation Agency reported no icy roads and the area opened for visitors from 4am. The CWA yesterday issued an “orange” alert for northern Taiwan, which warn of sustained temperatures around or below 10°C, or dropping below 6°C. The agency also issued “yellow” alerts for Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi cities, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin, Chiayi and Kinmen counties, warning of temperatures dropping below 10°C and significant day-night temperature differences.
Photo courtesy of Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area
WILDLIFE
Conservation succeeding
The Shei-pa National Park Administration yesterday published a census showing that while the multiple earthquakes and typhoons that struck Taiwan last year had affected the Oncorhynchus masou formosanus population, the impact was minimal. The endemic fish species’ population is 16,897, the second-highest in history, the census showed. The park administration said that it has collaborated with St. Stone Gold Co in an adoption drive for the fish species, marking the beginning of what could be an official template for public and private sector collaboration. The majority of the fish population was found in the Cijiawan (七家灣) and Hehuan River (合歡溪) areas, at 8,684 and 7,300 respectively, according to the census. The census was initiated not only to monitor the population of the fish, but also to gauge the efficacy of fish stocking, the park administration said. The park administration said it had released 1,000 fish fry of the Oncorhynchus masou formosanus into the llyung Sqeran (司界蘭溪) in an attempt to expand living habitats and better conserve the species.
DIPLOMACY
Donation pledged to Bucha
Taiwan has pledged to donate US$560,000 to the Ukrainian city of Bucha to help rebuild roads connecting the Kyiv Regional Center for Mental Health to surrounding areas. The agreement to donate the money was signed via a Webinar on Friday by Representative to Poland Jeff Liu (劉永健) and Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk. Liu emphasized Taiwan’s commitment to collaborating with democracies, saying that rebuilding the roads not only improves access to the health center, but also symbolizes a path to recovery for the war-torn country. Taiwan would continue providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine to demonstrate support and respect for its people, he said. Fedoruk expressed gratitude for Taiwan’s humanitarian assistance and said its swift support of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in 2022 means a lot to his city. Located in Bucha, a city in Kyiv Oblast, the Kyiv Regional Center for Mental Health is the largest institution of its kind in Ukraine, Ukraine’s Renovation League said. The center provides inpatient and outpatient care for people with mental health issues and has served over 150,000 people since its founding in 1978.
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
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