DIPLOMACY
US delegation arrives
A US congressional delegation is visiting Taiwan for five days to meet with President William Lai (賴清德) and other senior officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday. US Representative Marilyn Strickland leads the delegation that also includes her Democratic Party colleagues Julia Brownley, Jill Tokuda and Jasmine Crockett, the ministry said in a news release. During their visit from yesterday through Thursday, the congresswomen would also be invited to a banquet hosted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) “to exchange views on important issues on Taiwan-US relations, cross-strait and regional peace and security,” the ministry said. Since the delegation is comprised entirely of female lawmakers, the ministry said it “also looks forward to engaging in talks on women’s participation in political and public life.” Aside from Tokuda, all the other members of the delegation are making their first visit to Taiwan, it said.
MILITARY
AI used in communication
The army yesterday released video clips of artificial intelligence (AI) news anchors’ multilingual coverage of two rounds of live-fire artillery exercises held in the country this week as part of its effort to enhance communication with the international community. The two 90-second-long videos featured AI news anchors speaking in English, Chinese and Japanese about two rounds of artillery firing drills conducted in Hsinchu County’s Kengzikou (坑子口) shooting range and Taichung’s Jianan Beach (甲南海灘) on Wednesday and Thursday last week, the Ministry of National Defense said in a news release. The two drills featured M109A2 and M110A2 howitzers, the ministry said. They were staged only two weeks after the conclusion of the military’s annual Han Kuang military exercises. The ministry has said that troops need to continuously enhance their combat readiness. The application of AI technology to covering the nation’s military drills in three widely used languages “is aimed at enhancing communication with the international community by sharing information relating to Taiwan’s national defense situation,” it said.
CRIME
Drug shipment prevented
Thai law enforcement authorities have stopped about 11.8kg of heroin, discovered in a shipment of meat grinders and meatball makers, that was to enter Taiwan, at a dock in Bangkok, the Thai authorities said on Saturday. The drugs, worth NT$32.67 million (US$1 million) were found in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei District on Wednesday, Thai Department of Customs Director-General Theeraj Athanavanich told a news conference. The Thai Seaport Interdiction Task Force, which included agents from the Department of Customs and Armed Forces Security Center of the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, found 32 blocks of heroin hidden in the motors of a meat grinder and three meatball makers, Athanavanich said. The drugs were found when Thai customs personnel identified a suspicious shipment to Taiwan as they were intercepting exports potentially at risk of drug smuggling, he said. The seized drugs have been handed over to the the Thai Ministry of Justice’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the Royal Thai Police’s Narcotics Suppression Bureau for further investigation, and it was later discovered that the drugs came from a drug trafficking ring in Thailand’s Phetchabun Province, he said. The Taiwanese Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau is also pursuing accomplices in Taiwan.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
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