■AGRICULTURE
Papaya farmers struggling
A Chiayi County farmers’ association official urged agricultural authorities yesterday to help the county’s papaya farmers cope with losses suffered as result of a tornado and hailstorm that struck Jhongpu Township (中埔) on Thursday. Chang Han-ching (張漢清), a secretary at the Jhongpu Farmers Association, said the tornado and hailstones damaged about 30 hectares of papaya plantations in villages including Jinlan (金蘭), Fushou (復收), Longmen (龍門) and Sanceng (三層), causing millions of dollars in losses. Screen houses were damaged and fruit trees were either snapped in half or toppled over, Chang said. The Jhongpu Township Farmers’ Association would help the farmers apply for government subsidies and expressed hope that agricultural units would also help to offset the farmers’ losses, Chang said.
■CHARITY
Christian group plans to fast
The Taiwan chapter of World Vision, a global Christian charity dedicated to helping poor children and families, will hold a “Hunger 30” drive in Taipei today, in which participants will fast for 12 hours, the organizer said yesterday. First lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) is expected to attend the annual drive, to be held at the National Taiwan University Sports Center, World Vision Taiwan said in a press statement. World Vision Taiwan has been organizing activities to help people experience the pain of hunger and raise their awareness of helping the hungry since March 1, the statement said. The charity has offered assistance to victims of quake-hit Sichuan Province in China and cyclone-ravaged Myanmar.
■TECHNOLOGY
Firms to build electric bikes
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday that the government-financed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) would help domestic manufacturers churn out some 100,000 electric motorcycles in four years. Liu made an inspection tour of the ITRI headquarters in Hsinchu, where he was briefed on the progress in the research and development of various high-tech products, including the environmentally friendly electric motorcycles. He said the government would see to it that some 100,000 electric motorcycles, powered by replaceable batteries, are produced by private motorbike manufacturers around the country in four years amid louder calls for energy-saving and carbon-cutting measures.
■RECREATION
Kinmen park extends hours
The Kinmen National Park Administration said yesterday that it had decided to extend the opening hours at its service centers within the park for the duration of the summer season in response to the needs of visitors. Beginning yesterday, the hours of operation at service centers at the park’s main attractions, including the Jhongshanlin Recreational Area, the Chingkuo Memorial Hall, Cih Lake, the Gunington Battlefield Museum and the Aug. 23 Battle Museum, will be extended from 8am to 5pm to 8am to 5:30pm. The agency said many visitors to the park had complained that because of longer daylight hours and more visitors during the summer, the service centers’ hours of operation were not long enough. The service centers’ hours of operation will return to normal on Sept. 16, it said.
■AGRICULTURE
Farms offer DIY tours
Five leisure farms in Tainan County’s Dongshan Township (東山) yesterday started a month-long pick-it-yourself program organized by the county government. Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) said visitors to any of the five orchards need only pay an entrance fee of NT$100 (US$3.20) per person, with children under 110cm admitted free. They can eat as many freshly picked longans as they want before taking an additional 1.8kg of the fruit home at no extra charge.
■AVIATION
CAL fuselage cracks
China Airlines (CAL,華航) said last night that flight CI-160, departing from Taipei to Incheon, South Korea, at 8:08am, was found to have a 15cm crack in the fuselage and two damaged tires after landing at Incheon International Airport at 10:50am. The cause of the crack is still under investigation and could be the result of an unknown object on the runway, a statement issued by CAL said. CAL confirmed that Flight CI-160, carrying 245 passengers and crew, landed safely at Incheon. An A330-300 was immediately sent to Incheon to carry the return Flight CI-161 passengers back to Taipei, the statement said.
■POLITICS
Georgia crisis is a warning
Taiwan should learn a lesson from the ongoing conflict in the Caucasus and beware of a similar situation with China, a Taiwanese political analyst said yesterday. “Georgia’s tragedy is a warning for Taiwan. Georgia sees a Russia, which wants to regain its past power. Taiwan sees a China that has already risen,” said political analyst and former Taipei Times editor-in-chief Antonio Chiang (江春男). “Every now and then, thug leaders pick out a weakling and knock his head against the wall, to remind others who is in charge,” he wrote in an article entitled “A Small but Smart War,” in his column in the Apple Daily. “This time Georgia was hit so hard that it suffered a concussion. The whole world saw this. To [Russian Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin, this is a small but smart war. He paid a small price but achieved great results.”
‘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
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as