WEATHER
Koinu land warning lifted
The land warning for Typhoon Koinu was lifted yesterday morning as the storm left Taiwan and headed toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that downpours were still likely in parts of the country. The sea warning was lifted at about 11:30am, it said. However, the CWA continued to issue heavy rain warnings in eastern, northern and southern Taiwan, cautioning against mudslides, falling rocks and flooding. Taitung County and mountainous regions of Pingtung County could be the hardest hit, with more than 200mm of rainfall expected within the day, or more than 100mm within 3 hours, the CWA said. In Yilan and Hualien counties, as well as in the rest of Pingtung and coastal areas in Taipei and New Taipei cities, rainfall could top 80mm during the day or 40mm in an hour, it said. People in the outlying counties of Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties should stay vigilant against the possibility of strong winds, which could reach 88kph, it added.
LITERATURE
Novel translation awarded
A Spain-based academic has won the 2023 PEN Catalan Translation Award with her translation of a work by Taiwanese novelist Wu Ming-yi (吳明益) into Catalan, the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. Autonomous University of Barcelona professor Mireia Vargas-Urpi, who teaches in the school’s Department of Translation and Interpretation and East Asia Studies, was awarded the honor for her translation of Wu’s The Man With the Compound Eyes (複眼人), the PEN Catala announced on Friday last week, the ministry said. Her Catalan translation published last year was the 18th translation of the novel since its publication in 2011.
CRIME
E-cigarette factory raided
An electronic cigarette factory was discovered on Wednesday in New Taipei City, the first illegal facility of its kind discovered in Taiwan since new tobacco control regulations took effect in March, the city government said on Thursday. E-cigarettes were banned in Taiwan starting March 22 as part of amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防治法). Acting on a tip-off, a National Immigration Agency brigade launched a search on Wednesday at a residential unit in Sanchong District (三重) and found four undocumented migrant workers and a foreigner who overstayed their visa at the location. The five individuals were found making and packaging e-cigarettes at the site, the city government said. Authorities found three e-cigarette packaging and filling machines, 84 cartons of finished vaping products, four cartons of semi-finished products and 35 bottles of e-cigarette liquids at the site, with a street value of nearly NT$10 million (US$310,492), which were seized and sealed, it said.
CRIME
Two arrested over drugs
Two suspects linked to an alleged cross-border drug trafficking scheme that involved disguising amphetamines as milk powder were arrested after a shipment of narcotics smuggled into Taiwan was seized earlier this year, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Tuesday. CIB Third Investigation Corps Captain Chang Wen-yuan (張文源) told a news conference that a man surnamed Hsiao (蕭), 35, and an accomplice surnamed Chen (陳), 28, were taken into custody after 10.46kg of amphetamines in 10 cans of milk powder, with a street value of more than NT$10 million, were seized in two raids in April.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
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