ENVIRONMENT
Nanhua Reservoir at 50%
The storage capacity of the Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫), is enough to supply water to Greater Tainan until the end of the year, Taiwan Water Corp said yesterday. The reservoir currently has 49.02 million tonnes of water, which is 50 percent of its storage capacity, the company said, adding that the storage level had increased by 5 million tonnes compared with the same period of last year. The increase was mainly the result of water being diverted into the reservoir from rivers in the Chishan (旗山) area of Greater Kaohsiung rather than from rainfall, the company said, adding that water rationing that was due to take effect on May 26 in Tainan had been canceled. However, the Tsengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) and Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫), which provide agricultural irrigation water, are still suffering from shortages, the company said. As a result, irrigation for the second crop of rice paddies in the south would be postponed until June 21, because it would require at least 400 million tonnes of water, while the two reservoirs had taken in less than 100 million tonnes as of Tuesday. The Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) and Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) in the north are at 90 percent of their capacities, the company said.
ZOOS
Rhino iguanas Taipei-bound
As part of a cooperation program for animal conservation and reproduction between the Singapore Zoo and Taipei City Zoo, three rhino iguanas will be sent to Taipei. The arrival date of the lizards, which are designated as first-class endangered species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), was not announced. Taipei Zoo Director Jason Yeh (葉傑生) said his zoo would also get three Burmese mountain tortoises. Taipei has already sent 10 tortoises to Singapore in return, including four elongated tortoises, four red-footed tortoises and two yellow-footed tortoises. These tortoises, classified as second-class rare species under CITES, arrived in Singapore on May 27, Yeh said.
CENTENNIAL
Mickey Mouse event set
The Republic of China (ROC) centennial will be honored at Disneyland on July 3, event organizers say. The celebration is being organized by an ROC expatriate group in the US. The chief organizer, Rick Chiu (邱啟宜), said the event would include a cowboy-themed banquet, a parade and a fireworks display. Famous Disney cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck would also be on hand to pose for photographs with visitors. Chiu said he hoped Taiwanese visitors would bring non-Taiwanese friends to the California park to celebrate the 100th birthday of the ROC.
FISHERIES
Taiwanese captain freed
A Taiwanese captain who was detained by Japanese authorities for illegally fishing within Japan’s exclusive economic zone on Monday was released on Tuesday after paying a fine. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials arrested Chou Huang Ko-sheng (周黃可勝), 46, and six crewmembers after finding the longline boat Hai Hung No. 119 inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone without permission and fishing illegally. The boat was detained about 343km southeast of the coast of Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture. Chou Huang, who acknowledged that he was fishing illegally, paid the fine of nearly ￥4 million (US$49,880). He and his crew were returned to their boat and allowed to sail to international waters.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
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