Located off the coast of Yunlin and Chiayi counties, Waisanding Sandbar (外傘頂洲), the country's largest offshore sandbar, is in need of protection because of rapid erosion, the head of National Sun Yat-sen University's College of Marine Sciences warned.
Dean Chen Yang-yi (陳陽益) said research carried out by the university has shown that 1,067 hectares of the island disappeared due to erosion over the past 40 years, a trend that continues to this day. He also said that currents and north-easterly winds were gradually pushing the island southwest out to sea at a rate of about 60m to 70m per year, while also pulling the mass of land apart.
Chen says the island was probably formed by sediment accretion at the mouths of the Chuoshui River (濁水溪), Peikang River (北港溪) and Hsiluo River (西螺溪). However, river dredging and engineering projects by the Japanese government beginning in 1911 greatly reduced the amount of silt flowing into the ocean. Without a resupply of sediment on its east side, the island began to erode and migrate further out to sea.
Chen suggested constructing artificial barriers to block ocean waves and planting more vegetation to help hold the island together. He also recommended filling in depleted areas with earth from Putai Port (布袋港), which has a problem with sediment buildup.
Chiayi County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen (
Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) said on Thursday that the island had already moved to a position off the coast of Chiayi County, making it difficult for Yunlin County to administer it. She urged the central government to help coordinate between the two counties to prevent further erosion.
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
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
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
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