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.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
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