POLITICS
Lai to hold tea reception
President William Lai (賴清德) is this morning to host a Lunar New Year tea reception for the heads of the five government branches. He would be joined by Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in the closed-door event. Lai previously said he would invite the heads of the government branches for a gathering after the Lunar New Year, emphasizing the importance of harmony, “maintaining good intentions and speaking kind words.” He expressed hope that a positive atmosphere would help “transform misunderstanding into understanding, and divergence into unity.” A source said that the reception marks the first working day of the Lunar New Year, and by gathering the heads of the five branches for a tea reception, the president aims to exchange blessings and begin the year with the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation between constitutional institutions.
WEATHER
Warm weather to turn cold
The Central Weather Administration yesterday forecasted mostly cloudy to sunny skies for today, followed by two consecutive cold fronts starting tomorrow. From today to the daytime of tomorrow, temperatures would remain cool during the mornings and evenings, with a significant day-night temperature difference, it said. Most areas would see cloudy to sunny skies, with brief showers in the eastern areas and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島). The lowest temperatures are expected to be between 16°C and 20°C on Taiwan proper, Penghu and Kinmen counties, while Lienchiang County (Matsu) might see temperatures between 12°C and 13°C. Temperatures could reach 24°C to 28°C in the north and east, 29°C to 30°C in central and southern Taiwan, 24°C to 25°C in Penghu, 22°C to 23°C in Kinmen and 15°C to 18°C in Matsu. A cold front would pass from tomorrow night to Wednesday, and the northeast monsoon would slightly strengthen. Brief showers are expected in the north and east, as well as Hengchun Peninsula. The monsoon is expected to weaken on Thursday, but another front would enter on Friday, followed by a stronger northeast monsoon the next day. The probability of rain would increase nationwide.
SOCIETY
Puli forest fire contained
A forest fire that broke out on Feb. 15 in Nantou County’s Puli Township (埔里) and burned 29.54 hectares was contained on Saturday, the Nantou branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said yesterday. A total of 94 agency personnel were deployed, while the army’s Aviation and Special Forces Command, and the National Air Service Corps carried out aerial water drops, it said. The agency said information about the blaze would be forwarded to the Nantou County Fire Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Seventh Special Police Corps, which would investigate the fire.
AVIATION
Starlux flight U-turns
Starlux Airlines flight JX800 bound for Japan’s Narita International Airport yesterday suddenly U-turned back to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport about one hour after takeoff. Starlux Airlines said the return was due to mechanical issues. A replacement aircraft transported passengers to Tokyo at 1:15pm, and the return flight from Tokyo, JX801, was expected to be delayed by about three hours, it said. While waiting for the replacement flight, Starlux Airlines passengers in Taoyuan and Tokyo were provided with meal vouchers to use at the airport, it said, expressing its sincere apologies for the inconvenience.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
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