A Coast Guard Administration (CGA) officer monitors a China Coast Guard ship near Pratas Island (Dongsha Islands) in the South China Sea yesterday. The CGA said it detected two Chinese coast guard vessels approaching and entering the waters around Dongsha at about 7am yesterday. It dispatched the “Yunlin” and “Tainan” patrol vessels to sail alongside and monitor them, while using Chinese and English-language broadcasts to firmly order them to leave. The standoff remained under close monitoring at press time last night.
Photo courtesy of the CGA
McDonald’s Taiwan today said it has halted sales of its limited edition Sea Flavor Fried Shrimp Burger and its double-patty version, after the importer notified the company last night that the shrimp patties contained nitrofurans — a group of synthetic antibiotics — and their metabolites. Sales of the shrimp burgers were suspended nationwide at 10:30am today and customers who purchased them yesterday or in the early hours of this morning would be eligible for refunds, the company said, adding that more details would be announced within a week. McDonald’s Taiwan said it was notified last night that subsequent batch testing had found
UNNECESSARY?: While some said that the switch would mean more sunlight exposure for workers, others said the government should promote flexible working hours instead An online debate has resurfaced on whether Taiwan should switch to the same time zone as Japan, with supporters citing its geographic location and saying that China would have no right to object. The debate erupted on Threads when users suggested that Taiwan should stop using the same time zone as China, Malaysia and Singapore, GMT+8, and instead switch one hour ahead to the same time zone as Japan and South Korea, GMT+9, which it is geographically closer to. Under GMT+9 the sun would set later year-round, meaning that people would see sunlight after getting off work even in the winter and
The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday confirmed that Uni Air has submitted an application to suspend its Taipei-Hualien flights due to persistently low passenger rates. The airline, which is the only operator of the Taipei-Hualien route, proposed to suspend the service after Mandarin Airlines, another domestic flight carrier, applied to suspend flights to Hualien departing from Kaohsiung and Taichung earlier this year. The average load factor of the Taipei-Hualien flights during the first six months was 24.2 percent, CAA data showed. The average seat occupancy rate dropped even further to 17 percent last month, even though it was the beginning
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr today said that the Philippines would not allow any attacks from its territory in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, as it “has no desire to be a belligerent nation in the region.” Marcos later said that his country would continue to follow the “one China” policy while maintaining its existing ties with Taiwan within that framework. The Philippine president made the comments while attending the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines Presidential Luncheon in Manila. He was asked whether he would allow the US military to launch an attack from Philippine bases in the