WEATHER
CWB issues warning
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday issued this year’s first thunderstorm warning for Pingtung and Taitung counties, which was received by some people as good news amid a prolonged dry spell. While sporadic rain was forcast for northern Taiwan, the bureau cautioned residents in Pingtung and Taitung about likely thunderstorms and heavy rain in the afternoon. Meanwhile, farmers in Taichung said they were happy that heavy rain fell in the city’s mountainous areas, although it only lasted about 25 minutes. Former CWB Weather Forecast Center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that more moisture from southeastern China is to reach Taiwan from Sunday to Wednesday next week, which might be the prelude to the plum rain season that usually starts in May or June. However, the moisture might not entirely alleviate the water shortage situation, Wu said.
EDUCATION
Schools listed in ranking
Thirty-five Taiwanese universities were listed in the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking, the only school ranking taking into account performance toward reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals. National Cheng Kung University in Tainan and National Taiwan University in Taipei were the nation’s only schools in the 101-to-200 bracket, the survey showed. China Medical University, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology and Tunghai University were in the 301-to-400 bracket, it showed. Fifteen of the nation’s universities were in the 401-to-600 bracket, six in the 601-to-800 bracket, three between 801 and 1,000, and one in the 1,000-plus group, it showed. The ranking included 1,115 universities from 94 countries and regions worldwide. The ranking, which has been published annually since 2019, assesses school’s sustainability efforts based on indicators in four areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching. The 17 global goals, set by the UN in 2015 and due in 2030, include eradication of hunger and poverty, as well as the elevating the quality of education. Russia had the most institutions in the ranking (75), followed by Japan with 73. Last year, 24 Taiwanese universities were represented in the survey.
ART
Classics staged in Taipei
The Taipei Philharmonic Opera Studio is to stage a version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne featuring puppetry and dialogue in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and songs in German. The program, scheduled for May 4 to 6 in Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall, is also to include Joseph-Maurice Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges, the studio said in a news release on Monday. The studio is collaborating with Taiyang Theatre Co for the Mozart opera and Unique Puppet Theater for the Ravel piece, the studio said. Operas have always combined sound and visual arts, and the addition of puppetry would enrich the experience, Opera Studio music director Chiu Chun-chiang (邱君強) said. Taiyang Theatre Co artistic director Robin Ruizendaal said that puppets have a wider range of movement than stage actors. Opera director Chen Cheng-hsu (陳昶旭) said that Bastien und Bastienne evokes the emotional insecurity that is a near-universal experience for people in love, and the studio’s performance is meant to give a Taiwanese flavor to the 18th-century piece. L’Enfant et les Sortileges, which involves inanimate objects coming to life to take revenge on an unruly child, is a story that should resonate with families in the audience, he said.
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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
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