■ Defense
US concerned over arms
US officials have expressed concern over the delay in the arms procurement plan, saying it threatened Taiwan's security. During recent meetings with a group of visiting Taiwanese journalists, many US officials, members of Congress and academics raised similar questions regarding what they see as Taiwan's inability to reach a consensus on the arms procurement plan and show the US its resolve to defend itself from a Chinese invasion. The Cabinet-proposed NT$480 billion (US$15.33 billion) arms procurement package -- which includes 12 P-3C maritime patrol aircraft, six Patriot PAC-III anti-missile batteries and eight diesel-electric submarines -- has been blocked by the opposition-controlled legislature for two consecutive sessions. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party have picked at the high price tag of the deal and the way the procurement is budgeted.
■ Cross-strait ties
Fruit export talks to be held
The government will hold unofficial talks with China on Taiwanese fruit exports, local media reported yesterday. "The World Health Organization [WHO] will hold a working meeting in Hong Kong next month. Taiwan and Chinese representatives will hold unofficial talks on fruit export to China," Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) quoted Tai Cheng-yao (戴振耀), deputy director of the Department of Agriculture, as saying. "Through the consultation, we hope to sign an agreement with China on the export of Taiwan fruits to China," Tai said. China made a series of goodwill gestures to Taiwan after two opposition leaders visited Beijing in late April and early May. China's offer included two giant pandas, allowing the import of fruits and letting Chinese tourists visit Taiwan. China said it would open its market to 18 kinds of fruit and exempt tariffs on 12 of them.
■ Politics
KMT, PFP to work together
A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) official suggested yesterday that the nominees of the KMT and its People First Party (PFP) ally for the year-end city and county chief elections coordinate with each other to produce a joint candidate for each city and county. Liao Feng-teh (廖風德), director of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee, made the suggestion when he spoke on how to coordinate the candidates of the KMT and the PFP. Both parties have decided to start to talk about cooperation in the year-end elections on June 22, when the two parties will have decided their candidates for the elections. Liao said that the KMT has prepared its own integration mechanism for the two parties and that it will consider whether to conduct public and party opinion polls or consult opinion leaders among the candidates of the two parties.
■ Politics
DPP to work on consensus
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will invite mayors and commissioners from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as well as the heads of the DPP chapters in cities and counties around the country to a tea party on Tuesday, a lawmaker said yesterday. Lai Ching-te (賴清德), a DPP legislative whip, said the informal meeting at the Taipei Guest House is aimed at forging intra-party consensus on strategy for the year-end local government chiefs elections. President Chen has organized four similar meetings with DPP legislators since May 18 to explore lawmakers' views on major policy issues.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
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