WEATHER
Mercury dips nationwide
A strong cold air mass coming in from China sent the mercury plunging to about 10oC in the north of the country late yesterday. Temperatures nationwide are likely to drop this weekend, but the cold spell will affect mainly areas north of Chiayi County, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. In New Taipei City’s (新北市) Tamsui District (淡水), the temperature had fallen to 11.7oC yesterday morning, the bureau reported. With seasonal winds strengthening, heavy rains are also expected in northeastern regions of the country, the bureau added. The cold spell could last until Monday, after which temperatures are likely to rise again, it said.
ECONOMY
Sean Chen plans sleepover
Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) said yesterday he plans to stay over night with factory owners this weekend, as part of efforts to understand more about the challenges and difficulties faced by local businesses. Describing small and medium-sized businesses as the backbone of the nation’s economy, Chen said entrepreneurs’ voices need to be heard, so spending a night with them will facilitate bilateral communication. Listing industries related to environmental protection as his priority, he said he intended to use more weekends to call on companies and institutions nationwide. Chen’s tour is in line with President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy of encouraging his ministers to travel to the countryside and interact with people in different regions. Sincerity is important in such an undertaking, Chen said, adding that he did not want to disrupt the day-to-day lives of the people he visits. “I am willing to bring bedding with me, so the host family doesn’t have to buy any for me,” he said.
POLITICS
Prosecutors file lawsuits
Greater Kaohsiung prosecutors yesterday filed two separate lawsuits to revoke the election of two Aboriginal Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators after it was alleged a family member and campaign aides were involved in vote-buying. The wife of KMT Legislator Chien Tung-ming (簡東明) was released on bail of NT$200,000 (US$6,700) by prosecutors. They also seized NT$4.2 million in cash that was suspected of being used to buy votes. According to prosecutors, Chien denied the money was for vote buying. Meanwhile, a KMT local branch official in Taoyuan District (桃源), Greater Kaohsiung, was detained by Greater Kaohsiung judges on suspicion of conducting vote-buying for KMT Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉). Several of Kung’s campaign officials were also under investigation for alleged vote buying, prosecutors said, adding that they suspected Kung was behind the act.
TOURISM
Woman dies in bus crash
A tour bus rolled in eastern Taiwan yesterday, killing one Chinese national and injuring 33 others, according to the Hualien County Fire Department. The tour bus carrying a total of 34 people — 32 tourists from Beijing, a local tour guide and the bus driver — hit the hillside because of poor weather conditions and rolled at about 6:20pm. The Chinese woman died of cardiac arrest, according to officials from the department, adding that nine passengers were seriously injured, while the rest suffered minor injuries. The 45-year-old bus driver suffered minor injuries, the officials added. The tour bus was heading north when the accident took place at the 43km mark of Provincial Highway No. 11, which connects Hualien County and Taitung County.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
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