CROSS-STRAIT
Chinese students coming
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) foundation yesterday said the central government had approved its application to invite a group of Chinese students to visit Taiwan. Foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said in a statement that the 40 students from seven universities would be led by China Tsinghua University Committee Secretary of the Communist Party Qiu Yong (邱勇). The visiting students would include double Olympic table tennis champion Ma Long (馬龍) of Beijing Sport University, and 2020 Tokyo Olympic shooting gold medalist Yang Qian (楊倩) of Tsinghua University. They are expected to arrive on Nov. 27 and depart on Dec. 5. Hsiao said the government approval is meaningful at a time of increasingly tense cross-strait relations. The Mainland Affairs Council on Thursday said that no major flaws were identified during the application review, and that it would ask the visiting group that no political statements be made and no actions detrimental to Taiwan’s status be taken.
TECHNOLOGY
More funding coming
The government has allocated NT$196.5 billion (US$6.1 billion) in next year’s budget to support the tech industry, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said on Thursday. Speaking at the EdTech Taiwan at the Taipei World Trade Center, Cho said the government plans to “make step-by-step efforts” to transform Taiwan into a “digital nation and ‘smart’ island.” The government has earmarked NT$14.6 billion for the semiconductor industry, NT$10.1 billion for net-zero technology, NT$9.4 billion for artificial intelligence (AI), NT$6 billion for aerospace and communications industries and NT$5.3 billion for digital humanities, Cho said. The remainder of the tech budget would be spent on areas including the arms industry, security-related technologies and next-generation communications, he added. “Through its policy approach, the Executive Yuan hopes to establish Taiwan’s sovereign AI and enter the era of AI applications,” the premier said. Next year’s proposed budget represents an increase of more than 25 percent from the NT$156.9 billion allocated for this year.
TRANSPORT
Speed limit increased
The Danhai Light Rail Transit in New Taipei City has significantly improved service efficiency between the two stations by increasing the speed limit sixfold. Starting yesterday, light rail trains on the elevated section between Xinshi 1st Road Station and Danjin Beixin (Beitouzi) Station can travel up to 60kph, operator New Taipei Metro said in a statement. The two stations are 470m apart, and the higher speed limit reduces travel time by about one minute, it said, adding that the change was made possible by covering rarely used railroad switches between the stations.
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
RSS