DEFENSE
Tsai names vice minister
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has appointed Po Hung-hui (柏鴻輝), deputy chief executive officer of the Institute for National Defense Security Research, as the new vice defense minister in charge of policy at the Ministry of National Defense. Po, a retired air force lieutenant general, graduated from the Republic of China Air Force Academy in 1981 and the Air Command and Staff College of National Defense University in 1994, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said in a statement on Friday. He has served as the head of Taiwan’s defense mission in the US, director of the Political Warfare Office at the Air Force Command, chief of the general staff of the Air Force Command, and administrative deputy minister at the ministry, Lo said. Po had been serving at the institute since he retired from the military in 2018, Lo added.
HEALTH
Vaccine parity for migrants
Migrant workers are to receive the same treatment as Taiwanese in the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) said on Friday. The representative offices of Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam issued a joint appeal on Tuesday last week for migrant workers to be added to the priority list of people to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Ou said the ministry discussed the situation with the Central Epidemic Command Center on Friday last week. “We were told that migrant workers are not treated differently from Taiwanese nationals in principle,” she said, adding that the ministry would arrange for the representatives of the four countries and health officials to discuss the issue.
DIPLOMACY
Haiti ‘unlikely’ to switch ties
Ties between Taiwan and Haiti would remain solid, despite the political turmoil in Haiti following the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise, a former Taiwanese ambassador to the Caribbean nation said. Asked whether Haiti could switch allegiance to China after the assassination on Wednesday, Yang Cheng-ta (楊承達), ambassador to Haiti from 2005 to 2008, said he believed that the interim government’s priority would be to bring stability to the country. Yang said he does not believe Beijing would try to poach Taiwan’s diplomatic ally amid the chaos that Haiti is in. Even if the Chinese government did succeed in lobbying the interim government to ditch Taipei, the question is whether the new Haitian government would follow through with that decision, he added. Most importantly, Yang said that relations between Taiwan and Haiti have remained strong for years, and all bilateral cooperation programs are running smoothly.
ENVIRONMENT
Wild animal rescues drop
The number of wild animals being rescued has dropped to a record low following the implementation of a level 3 COVID-19 alert, a nonprofit veterinary clinic affiliated with the Wild Bird Society of Taoyuan said. Compared with the 315 animal rescue calls from April 18 to May 18, the number of calls dropped by 81 to 234 from May 19 to the end of last month, the clinic said. The number of calls has dropped by more than 100 from the same period in previous years, it said. Veterinarian Wu Chia-ying (吳珈瑩) said most callers report roadkill, and with traffic reduced due to the alert, the number of roadkill calls has also decreased.
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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