DEFENSE
Budget for backbone network
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has earmarked about NT$4.9 billion (US$153.5 million) to acquire backbone subnetworks for faster and more stable battlefield data transmission. The budget request, pending legislative review, would fund 213 backbone subnetworks, 179 microwave transmission subsystems, power generators and fiber channels to facilitate data transmission to command centers and weapons launch platforms across different services of the armed forces, according to the spending plan delivered to the legislature by the ministry on Friday last week. The planned systems are expected to boost the survivability of critical military command and control systems during wartime by establishing a fiber optic communication system and a high-capacity data transmission network across the nation. They are also expected to ensure uninterrupted data transmissions between command and control centers, harbors, airports, and joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, the ministry said. For fiscal year 2025, about NT$59 million has been earmarked for the design and planning of the systems and on-site evaluations. The project would take place from next year to 2030, the plans show.
DIPLOMACY
Garafil to head MECO
Cheloy Garafil, a former press secretary to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is to be the new representative to Taiwan, a Philippine official said on Thursday. Garafil is to head the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), Marcos’ newly appointed press secretary Cesar Chavez told reporters in Manila without giving a specific date. MECO, which serves as the Philippines’ de facto embassy in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties, is currently headed by Silvestre Hernando Bello III, who has held the post since July 2022. In June 2022, Garafil was appointed as head of the Philippines’ Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board. She also worked as a prosecutor at the Department of Justice during the administration of former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Philippine media reports said. Prior to her government jobs, Garafil worked as a reporter for the Malaya newspaper and also as a stringer for Taiwan’s Central News Agency. The announcement of her appointment to the MECO post was made during Chavez’s swearing in as the new press secretary.
CROSS-STRAIT
SEF urges more exchanges
Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Acting Chairman Rock Hsu (許勝雄) on Thursday called for greater exchanges among Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau businesses to boost enterprises’ competitiveness. “Increased cooperation and integration among enterprises across the Strait is pivotal to help enhance Taiwanese companies’ competitive edge and to lay a sound foundation for them to expand internationally,” Hsu told reporters before the opening of the 10th Cross-Strait, Hong Kong and Macau Forum on Economic and Trade in Taipei. Hsu said the SEF is also hopeful that Taiwan and China can reopen tourism and educational exchanges, as limiting them creates misgivings. Opening up to tourists would undoubtedly increase mutual understanding and interactions, he said, describing it as a “positive development.” The annual Cross-Strait, Hong Kong and Macau Forum on Economic and Trade has been held by rotating hosts since 2012. It was held in Suzhou last year.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
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