Weather Bureau issues land warning as typhoon Haikui heads for southeastern Taiwan

forecast track for Typhoon Haikui September 2, 2023
Typhoon 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau issued a land warning for Typhoon Haikui at 11:30 am today, September 2, forecasting that the tropical storm will make landfall in the southern part of Taiwan’s east coast early tomorrow, Sunday, September 3. At 11:00 am this morning Typhoon Haikui was located 520 kilometers east of Point Eluanbi moving westward at a speed of 17 kilometers per hour. Maximum sustained winds near the center are 137 kilometers per hour with maximum gusts of up to

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Victims’ remains found on train 2 years after disastrous train derailment

Railway engineers inspect Taroko Express train memorial
Disaster 
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Pieces of human skull, bloodied clothing, and personal belongings of victims were found in the wrecked carriage of a train that stands as a memorial to one of Taiwan’s worst train accidents in a railway park in northern Taiwan today, September 1. Police investigators and Taiwan Railway Administration staff made the findings during a carpet search of of the train car after a piece of skull was found by a representative of the victims’ families during a visit to the

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Typhoon likely to make direct hit on Taiwan this weekend

forecast path for typhoon haikui
Typhoon 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Tropical Storm Haikui has been upgraded to a category 1 typhoon, and Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau has revised the predicted path to cross over the northern part of the island Sunday, September 3. Typhoon Haikui was predicted by most forecast models to pass north of Taiwan, but the CWB now predicts a direct hit on the northeast coastal area of Yilan County, while Weather Underground predicts a path over the central part of the island, making landfall in Hualien County.

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UK parliamentary report calls Taiwan an independent country while Cleverly visiting Beijing

composite image showing UK parliament building and Taipei Cityscape with Taipei 101 building
International Relations 
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“Taiwan is already an independent country, under the name of the Republic of China (ROC),” a report by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee says, in a move likely to stir up a hornets nest during Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s visit to Beijing today, Wednesday, August 30. “Taiwan possesses all the qualifications of statehood, including a permanent population, a defined territory, government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states,” the report stated, noting that the country

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Oil spill from sunken freighter contaminates popular bathing beach in southern Taiwan

tourists affected by oil spill on beach
Marine and Fisheries 
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Beachgoers at Cijin Beach in Kaohsiung City yesterday were affected by an oil slick suspected to have come from a container ship that sank off the coast more than one month ago. Kaohsiung City Councilor Lina Chen was hosting an event promoting the wearing of lifejackets while beach bathing at around 3:00 pm when participants began reporting that they were affected by oil in the water and on the sand. Chen informed the Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau and the Maritime

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Tugboat sinks after collision with ferry in Matsu Islands harbor

tugboat sinking after collision with ferry
Marine and Fisheries 
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Five people were rescued from a sinking boat after a tug collided with a ferry and sank in Fu’ao Harbor in the Matsu Islands this morning. According to reports, the tugboat No.13302 was helping the Taima Star ferry out of the harbor when the collision occurred at around 10:00 am. The tugboat began taking on water and tilted sideways before sinking around 13 minutes later. An oil slick formed immediately after the sinking and coast guard officers deployed oil booms

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Taichung City recycling plant fire causes pollution, takes 19 hours to extinguish

smoke from fire seen from a distance
Fire 
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A fire at a recycling plant in Taichung City created a plume of thick, black smoke that could be seen up to 40 kilometers away yesterday, and was finally extinguished by firefighters this morning after a 19-hour-long battle. The Taichung City Fire Bureau received reports of a fire at a recycling plant on Wunan Road, Wuqi District at around 2:40 pm yesterday. Nineteen firetrucks and 39 firefighters were immediately dispatched to battle the blaze. Piles of plastic pellets and other

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Drunk driver slightly injured after crashing into east coast express train

damaged car after hitting train
Traffic Accidents 
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A man driving while over the legal alcohol limit crashed into an express train on a level crossing in Hualien County this morning, but fortunately nobody on board the train was injured. According to reports, the Taroko Express train #401 bound for Taipei from Taitung City was passing through a level crossing in Xiulin Township at 6:44 am when a white sedan crashed into the third and fourth cars of the train. The driver of the car, named Lin, suffered

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“Hold your own elections, don’t interfere with ours,” foreign minister tells Beijing as Chinese military launches combat drills around Taiwan

composite image showing Chinese fighter aircraft and naval vessel
Military Affairs 
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Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu accused Beijing of trying to interfere with an upcoming national election in Taiwan, after the Chinese military launched military exercises in sea and airspace around the island nation today, August 19. China’s People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command announced the drills on the PLA’s official Weibo account this morning, saying that it was carrying out joint naval and air combat readiness patrols around Taiwan focusing on ship-aircraft coordination to test seizing control of

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Rumors fact-checked after two Chinese female athletes dropped from global rankings

Chinese female sprinters Liao Mengxue and Tong Zenghuan
Sport 
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Chinese language reports, especially outside of China itself, are widely reporting rumors that two Chinese female athletes were dropped from global rankings because they are actually men, but other reports refute the claims. Taiwan’s Mirror Media reported today that Chinese female track and field athletes Liao Mengxue and Tong Zenghuan both disappeared from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) recently, and that the incident coincided with a June order by the Chinese Athletics Association that provincial athletics teams should test

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Associated Press CEO meets with Chinese state media ahead of China-led propaganda-fest World Media Summit

Associated Press President and CEO Daisy Veerasingham shakes hands with Xinhua News Agency President Fu Hua
Media Issues 
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President and CEO of Associated Press, Daisy Veerasingham, met with President of Xinhua News Agency, Fu Hua, in Beijing Sunday, August 13, and said that AP is open to discussions with Xinhua on news exchanges ahead of the 5th World Media Summit later this year, Chinese state media outlet Xinhua reported. Both Fu and Veerasingham commended the more than 50 year history of cooperation between [Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece] Xinhua and AP. Fu expressed the hope that the two sides

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