The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday issued a heavy torrential rain alert to residents in eastern and southeastern Taiwan as well as the Hengchun Peninsula as Tropical Storm Molave approached the southern part of the nation.
The bureau issued a sea alert for Molave on Thursday night.
As of 5:30pm yesterday, the center of the storm was 230km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻), moving northwesterly at 23kph.
CWB forecaster Hsieh Ming-chang (謝明昌) said the environment in the Bashi Channel had strengthened Molave.
The bureau forecast yesterday that the storm was likely to pass quickly through the Bashi Channel and move close to China’s Guangdong Province this afternoon. Based on the bureau’s projections, it appeared unlikely the storm would make landfall in Taiwan.
However, Hsieh said the path could shift northward and closer to the nation.
Hsieh said that the circumfluence of the storm had begun to threaten eastern and southern regions, adding that high waves had already been reported in Hengchun.
Accumulated rainfall in Hualien, Chengkung (成功) Taitung County and Pingtung had already topped 50mm.
The accumulated rainfall in the east, as well as in mountainous regions of the south, would likely exceed 200mm and could reach 300mm, the bureau said.
“The chances of intermittent heavy rainfall are also very high in the southern plains area,” Hsieh said.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS