The US’ Sally Ride, its newest research vessel, berthed at the Port of Keelung on Thursday as it makes its way to international waters near Palau with a research team that includes faculty and students from National Taiwan University’s Institute of Oceanography.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at an event in outlying Kinmen County yesterday that the port call was an international collaboration involving the university.
The vessel flew a Republic of China (ROC) flag alongside a US flag.
Photo courtesy of Lin Lu-hung
Yang Yiing-jang (楊穎堅), an associate professor at the institute, said separately that it is not unusual for the two flags to be flown together, as foreign ships berthing at Taiwan’s ports fly “a courtesy flag” according to international convention as a token of respect.
In October last year, another US research vessel, the Thomas G. Thompson, stopped at the Port of Kaohsiung, with some media mistakenly reporting that the visit had something to do with US Navy drills a month later.
Launched in August 2014, the Sally Ride is owned by the US Office of Naval Research and operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.
The vessel is named after US astronaut Sally Ride — the first American woman in space.
It is to remain in Keelung until Sept. 2 while the institute’s staff confirm logistics, Yang said, adding that technicians and students would be on the voyage in a learning capacity.
The ship is a shared-use research vessel under the US’ University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System, meaning that other institutes can use it for research purposes, institute director Jan Sen (詹森) said.
Researchers onboard are working on a project called “Propagation of Intra-Seasonal Tropical Oscillations” that involves Taiwanese, US and Philippine personnel, Jan said.
It aims to improve understanding of multiscale, air-sea and land-atmosphere interactions that regulate boreal summer intra-seasonal oscillations, he said.
The vessel would return to Keelung late next month, he said.
Over the past two decades, institute members have maintained friendly collaborations with US oceanographers, as the latter found Taiwan’s logistics more reliable than other countries in the region, he said.
Given Taiwan’s geostrategic location in the northwestern Pacific, the government should consider making the nation a relay station for oceanographers, which would be a more pragmatic “way out” for Taiwan with its difficult foreign relations situation, Jan said.
With climate change effects drawing increased attention, Taiwan and the US are expanding collaboration on Earth science research, Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) said separately yesterday.
After he led a delegation to meet with US National Science Foundation members last month, another delegation would visit the foundation next month to explore further collaboration ideas, Chen said.
Proposals include installing US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radars in Taiwan to advance forecasting models, he said, adding that the ministry would discuss with the American Institute in Taiwan regarding the arrangements.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
‘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
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
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS