CRIME
Weapons, drugs seized
Raids on four suspected underground firearms workshops in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅) led to the seizure of a large cache of weapons, ammunition and drugs, authorities said yesterday. The Taoyuan District Prosecutor’s Office in a statement said that the person suspected of running the workshops, a man surnamed Chung (鍾), had been released on bail of NT$300,000. Police seized 48 firearms, including three that were loaded, along with 1,900 rounds of ammunition, production equipment and drugs during raids that led to Chung’s arrest on Thursday, prosecutors said. The raids on four locations, including Chung’s residence and tattoo parlor, came after a judge in Taoyuan authorized a search warrant based on several tip-offs. Chung, an alleged associate of the Four Seas Gang, was arrested and questioned on suspicion of contravening the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), but was given bail following a court hearing yesterday morning. The prosecutors’ office said it had appealed the court’s decision to grant Chung bail.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Police Department
SOCIETY
Patrol vessel sets sail
The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) Hsun Hu No. 7 fisheries patrol vessel set sail from Kaohsiung yesterday on a 60-day patrol of the western and central Pacific, the agency said. The CGA said in a statement that the Hsun Hu No. 7 would make a port call in the Marshall Islands, one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, during its patrol to inspect fisheries resources and marine biodiversity. Taiwan would also bolster maritime law enforcement and rescue operations in the area by conducting inspections on vessels during the mission, it added. The ship is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Dec. 4, the CGA said. In the past few months, the agency’s Hsun Hu No. 8 and Hsun Hu No. 9 completed high seas patrols in the western and central Pacific, it said. Hsun Hu No. 7 has a displacement of about 1,900 tonnes, which refers to the volume of water displaced by the vessel converted to weight, the CGA said.
WEATHER
Cooler weather expected
Seasonal northeasterly winds would arrive during the long Double Ten National Day weekend, bringing rain and lower temperatures to northern and northeastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As the winds strengthen and a front approaches today, passing through Taiwan tomorrow and on Tuesday, eastern and northern parts of the country would experience occasional rain, CWA forecaster Chen I-hsiu (陳伊秀) said. Northeastern Taiwan, coastal areas in Keelung and mountainous areas in Taipei could see isolated showers, Chen said. Mainly cloudy conditions are expected in central and southern Taiwan and there could be thundershowers in the afternoon, she said. Seasonal winds would also bring cooler weather to northern and northeastern Taiwan, where a high of 25°C or 26°C could be observed, with a low of 23°C, Chen said. Meanwhile, tropical disturbances could form on the South China Sea and waters east of the Philippines, but the situation would not be clear until next week, Chen said.
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
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
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
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