■ Environment
Two spoonbills return to wild
Two black-faced spoonbills suffering from botulism at the Chiku Wetland in Tainan early this year were set free yesterday by the Tainan County Government after recovering. The two were among 17 sick birds that were found at the Chiku conservation area early this year, county government sources said, adding that another 15 of the endangered birds were set free Feb. 18 after receiving treatment. Seventy-three black-faced spoonbills that migrated from the Korean Peninsula and northeastern China between early December and early February to spend the winter at the Chiku Wetland have died of botulism. Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), who presided over a ceremony to set the two birds free, said Tainan County Hall will organize an international seminar on black-faced spoonbills in April. Su vowed to strengthen the management of the main habitat of black-faced spoonbills.
■ Shipping
Chinese vessels collide
Two Chinese cargo ships have collided near an outlying Taiwanese island, causing one vessel to sink and killing at least three of its crewmen, Taiwanese police said yesterday. The Haugang 508 sank after colliding with the Runda 402 Saturday night in rough waters near Tungyin island, which is close to China's southeastern coast, police said. Taiwanese patrol boats rescued four sailors and were still searching for three missing sailors from the sunken ship, they said. A Chinese patrol boat has also joined the rescue effort, they said.
■ Transportation
Gods say no to rail line
The nation's high-speed railway has hit a snag. The obstacle? A temple and its 300-year-old camphor tree. Rail engineers had planned for the line from Taipei in the north to Kaohsiung in the south to cross three temples. Railway officials may have informed those at the temple of the coming demolition, but they forgot to ask the most important figures -- the temple gods. The railway appeared to be in the good graces of the first two temple gods -- Taoist monks threw divination blocks to ask the gods whether the temple could be relocated. The gods assented. Unfortunately, the last temple god proved to be more stubborn. The divination blocks gave a resounding "no" to the idea of relocation. Unable to trump the temple god, and in their desire to maintain cultural relics, the rail officials conceded defeat and agreed to have the line skirt the temple and its venerable tree.
■ Nuclear power
Former DPP head to fast
Former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) will stage an hours-long fast in front of the Executive Yuan today to protest the government's failure to hold a referendum on the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. Lin, along with a group of anti-nuclear activists, plan to stage the fast from afternoon through late night. Premier Yu Shyi-kun has designated Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) to receive the petitioners and discuss the issue with Lin. Reiterating that a nation without nuclear power has been a common goal for the DPP and opposition parties, Cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the timing of a referendum on the fate of the plant needs further study and that the government will not rule out the possibility of holding a"consultative referendum" before laws governing a vote on the nuclear issue are enacted.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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