CULTURE
Local architecture honored
The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, also known as Weiwuying, was among six architectural works in Taiwan selected for this year’s International Architecture Awards, organized by the Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. The awards, which are in their 15th edition, honored 130 buildings and urban planning projects from 38 countries. Completed in 2108, Weiwuying was designed by Dutch architect Francine Houben and her firm Mecanoo, who was inspired by the many banyan trees in the area to create the center, which holds four performance halls under its roof and a large outdoor amphitheater. Other buildings in Taiwan recognized this year include Siafu Activity Center in New Taipei City, by IMO Architecture & Design, which was completed in 2017 and features a temple-style curved roof and hundreds of colorful columns; the JCA Living Lab in Taipei, a nearly century-old house built during the Japanese colonial period, which was renovated by JC architecture. Chain10 Architecture & Interior Design Institute won for three projects, two in Kaoshiung and one in Taitung: a private home built near the Agongdian Reservoir (阿公店水庫), the Green Isle restaurant in Kaohsiung, completed last year, and the Gasea cliff house, which was completed in 2017.
TRAVEL
Warning over pork imports
The Central Emergency Operation Center for African Swine Fever said that it would begin screening the luggage of all arrivals from Germany, after the country reported its first case of the disease on Thursday. Anyone found to have brought products containing pork into Taiwan from Germany would be fined, the center said. First-time offenders will be fined NT$200,000 (US$6,778), with the penalty increasing to NT$1 million for repeat offenses, it said. If foreign nationals are unable to pay the fine, they would be denied entry to Taiwan, it added. The German case indicates that the disease is spreading in Europe, the center said, reminding people not to bring pork products into Taiwan or have them shipped here.
AGRICULTURE
Garlic vendors investigated
Two garlic vendors in Yunlin County are being investigated for alleged price gauging and hoarding, officials said on Saturday. About 136 tonnes of garlic were found in a warehouse when the Investigation Bureau’s Yunlin County Field Office and the county’s Agriculture Department conducted a check of the vendors’ operations on Friday, investigators said. One of the vendors, surnamed Lin (林), said 53 tonnes were stored to supply contract farmers, while the rest was intended for general sales, the field office said. The average wholesale price of garlic posted by Siluo Agricultural Marketing Corp in Yunlin rose from NT$161.2 per kilogram on Jan. 1 to NT$396.7 per kilogram on Friday. A local farmers’ association official said the sharp rise has been caused by interruptions in imports.
TECHNOLOGY
NASA registration open
Registration for the ninth annual NASA Space Apps Challenge Hackathon, to be held in Taipei, is open through Friday, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said. It will be the fourth such event held in Taipei, although this year’s event would be held virtually. The Taipei leg from Oct. 2 to 4 is co-hosted by the National Space Organization, the Taipei City Government, National Taiwan University, Jothon Online and the American Innovation Center, the AIT said on Thursday.
‘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
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
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
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