WEATHER
Storm nears Taiwan
Tropical Storm Talim has formed in the South China Sea yesterday, said the Central Weather Bureau (CWB). While the storm is not on course to affect Taiwan directly, its outer cloud system could cause intermittent rainfall in Keelung, eastern and southern Taiwan, and mountainous areas across the country today, it said. Taiwan could experience thunderstorms and severe weather conditions, including thunders, strong winds, and momentary torrential rains around noon until Wednesday next week, said Daniel Wu (吳德榮), a former CWB Weather Forecast Center director who is now an adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University.
TRANSPORTATION
MRT station opens
An 800-meter extension of the Taoyuan Airport MRT that runs into the heart of Jhongli District (中壢) in Taoyuan is set to start commercial operations by the end of this month, Railway Bureau says. The section connecting the Huanbei Station (A21) and the new station to its south, the Laojie River Station (A22), has passed all the necessary tests and received an operating permit from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications earlier this month, the bureau said. Taoyuan Metro Co is to decide on a launch date for the section, it said. The new station is part of a NT$17.3 billion (US$559 million) extension project that started in 2020 to add two stops to the existing 51.03km line.
CRIME
Dog poisoner sentenced
A man in Taitung County has been sentenced to two months in prison and fined NT $270,000 (US$8739) for killing a stray dog with poison. The verdict, released on Wednesday by the Taitung District Court, found the man, surnamed Chang (張), deliberately fed a stray dog the pesticide methomyl on Oct. 15 last year. A nearby person, surnamed Wu (吳), reported to the police that after the dog was fed by Chang, it began twitching and died immediately. Chang initially denied feeding the dog poison and told the police that he did not know the food he had given the animal contained methomyl. He later admitted to poisoning the dog, but said he did so to relieve the animal’s suffering as it was sick and malnourished, the court said. Based on a nearby surveillance footage, the dog appeared to be in good condition and was even wagging its tail at Chang before it was poisoned, the court said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
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