MILITARY
US outlines jet issues
The US Air Force “continues to explore all options to prioritize and expedite” sales of F-16s to Taiwan, an official said on Wednesday in response to concern expressed by US lawmakers. US Air Force Assistant Secretary Andrew Hunter responded to a letter from lawmakers expressing concern that delivery of the fighter jets promised to Taiwan might be undercut by expanding “regional security concerns around the world,” including competing US commitments to Ukraine and Israel. US House of Representatives members said that delays in a program to retrofit Taiwan’s existing F-16s were approaching three years due to a lack of key parts, while delivery of 66 new aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp has been delayed “by over 15 months due to software development complexities.” Hunter wrote that the program to retrofit F-16s “has delivered 136 aircraft, with the remaining three forecast for delivery” shortly.
ENTERTAINMENT
‘Abiding Nowhere’ makes cut
Abiding Nowhere (無所住), a new film by Taiwan-based Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), is to be screened as part of a special program at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. The festival on Wednesday announced the titles to be screened at its Berlinale Special, a program which also includes Cuckoo, a horror film written and directed by Tilman Singer. Abiding Nowhere is the 10th installation in Tsai’s Walker series, a suite of meditative performance films that capture Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng (李康生), dressed as a Buddhist monk, traversing public and private spaces in cities around the world.
WEATHER
Snow falls on Taipingshan
Snow fell in Taiwan on Thursday for the first time this winter on Taipingshan (太平山) in Yilan County as the temperature there plunged to minus-6°C. The owl sculpture at the Taiping Villa plaza, which is about 2,000m above sea level, was covered in a thin layer of snow, said Juan Ming-yang (阮名揚), a staff member at the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area management center. The wind at the villa was strong, but the snowfall was not intense, Juan said. Several enthusiastic snow chasers stayed in the villa overnight, but most of the 1,000 visitors on Thursday were urged to leave as early as possible due to concerns that icy roads could hinder their drive down the mountain, Juan said. The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Yilan branch, which runs the recreation area, said that there was about 1cm of snow at the villa and Cueifong Lake area early yesterday morning.
CRIME
Heroin user sentenced
A Miaoli County man surnamed Hsu (徐) was sentenced to 50 days in prison after being found guilty of negligence leading to his four-year-old son being poisoned by heroin, the Miaoli District Court said this week. The sentence can be commuted to a fine and the ruling can be appealed. Hsu, a tattoo artist, in February last year caused serious, permanent injuries to the child after leaving heroin on a coffee table in a hair salon where he was working on a client, the court said. Hsu had used the heroin and had fallen asleep after completing his work, leaving his son with access to the drug, the court said. The child’s urine tested positive for morphine and codeine, it said. The child was paralyzed, and lost speech and movement abilities due to lesions on the brain from ingesting the drug, the court said, citing a doctor’s report.
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
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
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
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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