MILITARY
Warplane incident resolved
An Indigenous Defense Fighter jet that appeared to malfunction in mid-air landed safely at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung yesterday, the air force said. Ground crew spotted the plane’s apparent malfunction and instructed the pilot to land immediately, the air force said in a statement. The incident happened during an aerial rehearsal ahead of an open day at the air base tomorrow, the air force said. The air force said that the incident was caused by a defective exhaust nozzle sleeve. A preliminary investigation indicated that the malfunctioning component allowed flames to shoot from the nozzle walls, it said. The engine remained intact and no foreign object or internal object damage was detected, it added. The jet is to undergo repairs, it said without elaborating.
MILITARY
Chinese craft detected
Thirty-three Chinese warplanes were detected in the nation’s air defense identification zone in the 24 hours to 6am yesterday, including eight that crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense said. Six J-10 and two J-16 fighters crossed the median line, while a Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane and a Y-9 electronic warfare aircraft flew close to the southwestern boundary of the zone before turning back, flight path information released by the ministry showed. In addition, six Chinese military vessels were detected in waters around Taiwan during the same 24-hour period, it said. The ministry deployed aircraft, ships and coastal missile systems in response to the situation, it said.
MILITARY
Live-fire drills unveiled
The air force and navy are to jointly conduct annual live-fire exercises using air-to-air and anti-ship missiles in waters off the southeastern coast for three days from Tuesday next week, a military source said. Dubbed a “precision missile drill,” the testing is a major military exercise organized alternately by the air force and the navy every year to assess combat readiness, the source said. Air force fighters — Mirage-2000 5s, domestically made Indigenous Defense Fighters and F-16Vs — would fire “shoot and forget” AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air MICAs made by European missile maker MBDA, the source said. The navy would launch Taiwan-made Hsiung Feng anti-ship missiles at four decommissioned vessels, including two Ching Chiang-class patrol vessels, and two rescue and salvage ships, the source said.
ASTRONOMY
Perseids to peak on Sunday
The peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower is to occur on Sunday, with conditions to spot “shooting stars” expected to be the best for the past few years, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said on Wednesday. The meteor shower, famed for long-lasting streaks of light, is expected to provide views of up to 100 meteors per hour, the museum said. Due to a waning crescent moon, which will not rise until 3am on Monday, stargazing should be relatively easy, it said. The best Perseid performance on record was in 1993, when there were up to 300 meteors visible an hour, NASA said. The Perseids, considered one of the most spectacular meteor showers — along with the Quadrantids in January and the Geminids in December — are active from July 17 to Aug. 24 this year, the museum said. Clear skies are forecast in northern and eastern Taiwan over the weekend, while rain is likely elsewhere, the Central Weather Bureau said.
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
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
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
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