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.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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