The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Chanthu, as it continued to gain power while approaching Taiwan from the southeast.
As of 8pm last night, Chanthu was about 410km southeast of Pingtung County’s Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost point of Taiwan proper, moving northwest at 15kph toward the Bashi Channel.
The typhoon had maximum sustained winds of 209kph, with gusts of up to 263kph, bureau data showed.
Chanthu, which is likely to come closest to the nation over the weekend, could pose a threat throughout Taiwan proper, but particularly in Taitung and Pingtung, the bureau said.
Strong winds and heavy rainfall are forecast throughout the nation tomorrow, it said.
It was unclear whether Chanthu’s eye would make landfall, as that would depend on a Pacific high-pressure system, it said.
Photo: CNA
However, based on the storm’s trajectory yesterday afternoon, it is likely that Chanthu’s center would skirt eastern Taiwan as it heads north, forecasters said.
Food delivery service providers Uber Eats Taiwan and Foodpanda Taiwan Co (富胖達) said that no services would be offered should the government require office closures.
As of press time last night, Taitung County’s Lanyu (蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) townships had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes.
In anticipation of Chanthu, ferries serving Taitung County, Pingtung County, Orchid Island (Lanyu) and Green Island were suspended for yesterday and today.
The Taitung County Government ended its annual hot air balloon festival early on Thursday, citing Chanthu and the COVID-19 situation.
The festival, which was originally scheduled to take place from July 3 to Aug. 8, opened on Aug. 14 due to a level 3 COVID-19 alert and was to end on Sunday.
Average wholesale vegetable prices in Taipei rose to NT$48 per kilogram, Council of Agriculture data showed yesterday.
Vegetable prices would likely fall after Chanthu passes, dropping to under NT$35 next month, Agricultural and Food Agency Deputy Director-General Yao Chih-wang (姚志旺) said.
UNITED: The premier said Trump’s tariff comments provided a great opportunity for the private and public sectors to come together to maintain the nation’s chip advantage The government is considering ways to assist the nation’s semiconductor industry or hosting collaborative projects with the private sector after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips exported to the US, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Trump on Monday told Republican members of the US Congress about plans to impose sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, steel, aluminum, copper and pharmaceuticals “in the very near future.” “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said at the Republican Issues Conference in Miami, Florida. “They
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Taiwan must capitalize on the shock waves DeepSeek has sent through US markets to show it is a tech partner of Washington, a researcher said China’s reported breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) would prompt the US to seek a stronger alliance with Taiwan and Japan to secure its technological superiority, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. The launch of low-cost AI model DeepSeek (深度求索) on Monday sent US tech stocks tumbling, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp losing 16 percent of its value and the NASDAQ falling 612.46 points, or 3.07 percent, to close at 19,341.84 points. On the same day, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Sector index dropped 488.7 points, or 9.15 percent, to close at 4,853.24 points. The launch of the Chinese chatbot proves that a competitor can
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
MARITIME SECURITY: Of the 52 vessels, 15 were rated a ‘threat’ for various reasons, including the amount of time they spent loitering near subsea cables, the CGA said Taiwan has identified 52 “suspicious” Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience that require close monitoring if detected near the nation, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday, as the nation seeks to protect its subsea telecoms cables. The stricter regime comes after a Cameroon-flagged vessel was briefly detained by the CGA earlier this month on suspicion of damaging an international cable northeast of Taiwan. The vessel is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company with a Chinese address given for its only listed director, the CGA said previously. Taiwan fears China could sever its communication links as part of an attempt
RSS