DIPLOMACY
AIT officials take posts
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday announced that the new head of its Kaohsiung branch, Neil Gibson, and his deputy, Samuel Goffman, have officially assumed office. The assignment is Gibson’s second stint at the AIT, it said in a news release. Since joining the US Department of State in 2009, he has also been dispatched to Japan, the Philippines, Paris and Iraq, it said. Prior to his career in the foreign service, Gibson, who holds a master’s degree in international relations and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business, was an international investment specialist at the US Department of Commerce, it said. The California-native speaks Mandarin and Japanese, the AIT added. Goffman has worked in the foreign service for 12 years and has been based in the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Chengdu, as well as in Warsaw and Washington, it said.
MILITARY
China announces drills
China’s Fujian Maritime Safety Administration yesterday issued a no-sail order for an area close to Taiwan proper where live-fire military drills are scheduled to take place today and tomorrow. According to the coordinates given by the agency, the drills would be staged in Xinghua Bay, about 160km from Taiwan proper, from 7am to 8pm on both days. The announcement comes as President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) are in Kinmen County to mark the 65th anniversary of the 823 Artillery Bombardment, a battle in which Taiwan fended off Chinese People’s Liberation Army aggression with the assistance of US military aid.
WEATHER
Kaohsiung bridge damaged
Mudslides on Tuesday triggered by heavy rain damaged a makeshift bridge in Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District (桃源), forcing the closure of schools and government offices in three villages yesterday, local authorities said. A landslide-induced debris flow in the Yusui River (玉穗溪) washed away parts of the temporary Mingba Kelu Bridge, which forms part of Provincial Highway No. 20, the Southern Cross-Island Highway, disrupting traffic in Fusing (復興), Lafulan (拉芙蘭) and Meishan (梅山) villages. The Taoyuan District Office announced the closure of schools and offices in the villages for safety reasons. The bridge, which serves about 500 residents in the three villages, was destroyed in 2021 following heavy rain and landslides, and a temporary bridge was built. Reconstruction of the Mingba Kelu Bridge is expected to be completed in 2025, the Kaohsiung City Government said.
WEATHER
CWB tracks depression
A tropical depression in waters northeast of the Philippines could strengthen into a tropical storm next week, but it is too early to tell whether it would have a direct effect on Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday. The weather system, which was about 850km southeast of Taipei, was not expected to gather strength or move much over the next few days due to it being in a large low-pressure zone, CWB forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) told reporters. The depression could move into the Bashi Channel on Monday or Tuesday next week, and strengthen into a tropical storm this weekend or next week, Huang said. While the system would not affect Taiwan this week, its movements in the longer term remain highly uncertain and require additional observation, Huang 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
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
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