SOCIETY
Blackout prompts change
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) yesterday pledged to review and adjust its electricity supply for Taiwan’s outlying islands during the peak summer season after Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) lost power for an hour on Saturday. The utility said the power outage, which hit the island just off the northwest coast of Pingtung County at about 7:30pm, was caused by hot weather and large numbers of tourists turning on electrical appliances. The island’s power demand hit a record high of 12,475 kilowatts (kW), and the system tripped as it was overloaded, it said. After confirming that there were no other malfunctions, Taipower was able to restore electricity to the island after about an hour, it said. Over the past three years, Siaoliouciou’s highest electricity loads have been recorded between 7pm and 8pm, Taipower said. It hit a peak of 11,660kW on June 8 during the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend, and on June 22 last year peaked at 11,700kW. The Pingtung County Government’s Transportation and Tourism Development Department said 10,418 people arrived on Siaoliouciou on Saturday, a typical number for a weekend during peak travel season. The island is undergoing a systematic voltage change that is expected to increase electricity supply, Taipower said.
WEATHER
Taitung’s Jinfeng hits 37.5°C
Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) recorded a temperature of 37.5°C at 1:50pm yesterday, the highest in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An orange heat alert has been issued for Taitung, signaling a high probability of at least three consecutive days of temperatures reaching 36°C or higher. Hualien County is under a yellow alert, indicating a chance of temperatures exceeding 36°C. The top 10 hottest locations in the nation yesterday also included areas in Yilan, Miaoli and Hsinchu counties, as well as Taipei, the data showed. CWA forecaster Yeh Chih-chun (葉致均) said the weather this week would predominantly consist of high temperatures with localized, brief thunderstorms in the afternoon. Over the next two days, areas in the southeast might record temperatures above 36°C, Yeh said. Areas south of Greater Taipei and mountainous regions could have more intense afternoon thunderstorms, but rainfall is expected to decrease after nightfall, he said.
DIPLOMACY
Nats host pilot Taiwan Day
Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Saturday threw the ceremonial first pitch at Nationals Park in Washington during a pilot Taiwan Day event before the Washington Nationals’ Major League Baseball game against the Miami Marlins. The event drew 500 to 600 Taiwanese, and the 500 limited-edition jerseys with the name “Taiwan DC” and the number “08” — which sounds like “your father” in Taiwanese — were sold out. Lee Hou (侯立宸), who initiated the event, said it was a “proof of concept” game, meaning that if the event was viable based on ticket sales, Taiwan Day would become a standard event from next year. Hou said that to make Taiwan Day an official event, 250 tickets had to be sold through the Taiwan Day landing page, and more than 500 were sold, meaning there is a good chance it would be approved. Hou, 23, a Taiwanese-American baseball enthusiast who used to work for the Washington Nationals, said that after seeing the success of Taiwan Day events in Los Angeles, Seattle and other places, he “made a wish” to add more “Taiwan flavor” to Washington, where he grew up.
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
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