Author: Phillip Charlier

China claims 10.9 million COVID tests in Qingdao City all negative: Taiwan’s Health Minister says “impossible”

Chen Shih-chung coughs during press conference
Health and Safety 
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Chinese officials claimed yesterday that COVID-19 tests on 10.9 million people in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, had all returned negative results, but Taiwan’s Health Minister, Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), said today that such a result was impossible. Citywide tests for Qingdao City’s population of 11 million were ordered after a cluster infection of 13 people centered around a local hospital was discovered recently. The cluster was claimed to be China’s first case of locally transmitted COVID-19 in over two months. The

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Suspect cannabis grower claims 467 plants were for his own use

marijuana plants seized in New Taipei City
Drugs 
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A man told police that 467 marijuana plants growing on two New Taipei City properties were for his own use, but investigators are not buying his claim. Police began an investigation recently after residents reported a suspicious smell coming from a house in Tamsui District. Investigators suspected the smell was marijuana and applied for a search warrant. Yesterday afternoon, October 15, police raided the property and arrested a 43-year-old man named Liao after finding 120 cannabis plants in the house.

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Five human-rights-violating dictatorships elected to United Nations Human Rights Council while democratic nation Taiwan still denied UN membership

UNHSRC cracked glass
International Relations 
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The United States and Israel are among critics of the United Nations General Assembly’s decision to advance China, Russia, Cuba, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan to the United Nation’s top human rights body – the United Nation’s Human Rights Council (UNHCR), and Taiwan United Nations Alliance is also calling out the UN’s hypocrisy. “Today the UN General Assembly once again elected countries with abhorrent human rights records, including China, Russia, and Cuba. Venezuela was elected in 2019,” US Secretary of State Mike

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Small truck gets stuck in big truck and hitches a ride on freeway

light truck stuck in heavy truck
Traffic Accidents 
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A light truck crashed into the back of a gravel truck on National Freeway 3 today, and was dragged for around one kilometer. The small truck, driven by a 58-year-old man named Liu smashed into the back of the semi-trailer at the 45 kilometer southbound mark. The driver of the gravel-truck, Mr Hsiao, did not feel the impact, and continued to drive along the freeway oblivious to the fact that he had a hitchhiker attached to the back of his

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President visits long-range, early-warning station: Media speculates on US personnel spotted in the background

Suspected American personnel spotted at Leshan Radar Station
Military Affairs 
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President Tsai Ing-wen visited a long-range, early-warning radar facility today, October 13, and the media is abuzz about the first time US personnel have been included in official pictures on the site. Due to adverse weather conditions, a helicopter could not be used to transport President Tsai to the facility, but not to be deterred, a bus was deployed to ferry the presidential contingent from Zhudong Township to the remote base, situated at an altitude of more than 2,600 meters,

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Freighter runs aground on coast of southern Taiwan after crew abandons crippled ship

ship aground on coast of Kaohsiung City
Marine and Fisheries 
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A crew of 13 was rescued from a freighter yesterday, after the drifting vessel began to list dangerously, then the ship ran aground after an attempt to tow the vessel failed. The Sierra-Leone-registered, 2,600 ton general-cargo freighter, Zhihai 8, lost power in the early hours of the morning, yesterday, October 12. The crew abandoned ship by life raft after the ship began listing severely to starboard, threatening to overturn. Coast Guard vessels and a helicopter were dispatched from the Port

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Man stung to death while harvesting hornets

firefighters wearing protective equipment attend to the scene of an Asian giant hornet attack
Animals 
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A 60-year-old man died on the way to hospital after being stung by Asian giant hornets while he was attempting to harvest a hive in Hsinchu County, in the evening of October 11. Mr Wang, from Beipu Township went to a remote valley with four other men to harvest hornets from a hive he had located several days before. Mr Wang was only wearing basic protective equipment, according firefighters. Wang was wearing a headlamp, which is believed to have drawn

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Helicopter owner-pilot arrested for illegal flight and landing in New Taipei City

Robinson R22
Aviation 
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The owner-pilot of a Robinson R22 helicopter that was spotted landing and taking off in Tamsui District, New Taipei City last month was arrested today, October 9, and the helicopter has been seized. See Previous story: CAA investigating illegal helicopter landing in residential district of New Taipei City. Chen Yao-ting (陳耀庭), the 59-year-old owner of a freight company, was arrested in Guishan District, Taoyuan City, and transferred to the Shilin District Prosecutor’s Office, after an investigation involving the Civil Aviation

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Six new Black Hawk helicopters delivered for search, rescue, disaster relief operations

Black Hawk helicopters delivered in Taiwan
Aviation 
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The National Airborne Service Corps of the Ministry of the Interior took delivery of six new Black Hawk helicopters at the Port of Kaohsiung yesterday, October 7, and towed the aircraft by road to Kaohsiung International Airport during the night. The aircraft are part of a batch of 60 that were ordered by the Ministry of National Defense in 2009, 15 of which were allocated to the Airborne Service corps for search and rescue, and disaster relief operations. The first

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Military tank overturns, catches fire: one dead, one injured in Kinmen County

firefighters and tank on fire
Military Affairs 
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A tank commander died, and another soldier was injured, after a tank overturned and caught fire in Kinmen County, today, October 8. According to reports in United Daily News, and Liberty Times, the M41A3 light tank was returning to base after exercises when it overturned on a curve on a downhill section of road in Linbian Village on Little Kinmen Island. The tank crashed through a steel guardrail, and knocked down two power poles before coming to a stop on

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Orchid Island resident finds lump of Ambergris worth NT$6 million

4 kilogram lump of ambergris
Marine and Fisheries 
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A resident of Orchid Island found a mysterious stone while fishing on a beach in March this year, and it has been confirmed that the object is a lump of ambergris worth an estimated NT$6 million (US$209, 300). Mr Lee, a resident of Longdao Village said that he was drawn to the four-kilogram stone by a strong fragrance. Suspecting it may be ambergris, Lee took the stone home. Mr Lee subjected the stone to a simple test at home –

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