4 people rescued from collapsed building after destructive earthquake strikes eastern Taiwan

composite image showing collapsed building and person rescued
Earthquakes 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Firefighters in Hualien County successfully located and extracted four injured people after a building collapsed when a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the area today, Sunday, September 18. Hualien County Fire Department sent a search and rescue team to the scene of the disaster in Yuli township after receiving reports that a three-storey mixed commercial and residential building collapsed after the earthquake struck at 2:44 pm. Staff and customers of a 7-11 convenience store on the first floor had all evacuated the

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Prosecutors request death penalty for killer of two police officers

Lin Hsin-wu (林信吾) arrested
Violent Crimes 
Phillip Charlier 5 Comments , , ,

Prosecutors in Tainan City requested the death penalty for a man charged with stabbing to death two police officers last month, revealing chilling details of the suffering the officers endured in their last moments of life, and the suspected killer’s coldblooded disregard for his victims. According to the results of the prosecutor’s investigation announced today, September 7, shortly before noon on August 22, police officers Tu Ming-cheng (凃明誠), 36, and Tsao Jui-chieh (曹瑞傑), 27, drove a police car to Taijiang Avenue

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Taiwan insurance companies suffer heavy losses on COVID and vaccine policy payouts

Taiwan NT$1,000 bills
Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments , , ,

Some of Taiwan’s largest insurance companies have applied for capital reserve funding increases and short term loans to cover losses to the tune of more than NT$80 billion as Covid-19 and COVID vaccine insurance claims continue to pour in, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday, September 6. The FSC Insurance Bureau reported that from the beginning of the year to September 5, there had been more than 1.7 million claims settled on COVID-19 insurance and more than 386,000 claims

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3 workers dead after crane boom touches power lines in Tainan City

truck on fire after contact with power lines
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Firefighters found the charred remains of three men after extinguishing a fire that consumed a crane truck in Qigu District, Tainan City this morning, September 6. Tainan City Fire Bureau received reports that a truck was on fire after the crane boom came into contact with high voltage electricity lines on a fish farm 500 meters from the Liukong Wharf at 7:56 am. Firefighters arriving at the scene waited until Taipower personnel turned off the power before deploying water to

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Land warning issued as Typhoon Hinnamnor strengthens, approaches northeastern Taiwan

forecast path for Typhoon Hinnamnor
Typhoon 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau issued a land warning for Typhoon Hinnamnor at 2:30 am this morning as the storm circle is expected to brush the northeast coast, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to Yilan County, Taipei, and Keelung starting this evening. The northwest Pacific’s 11th named tropical storm for 2022, and the strongest so far this year, Hinnamnor was located 420 kilometers east-northeast of Point Eluanbi at 8:00 am this morning moving north-northwest at 16 kilometers per hour. The

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Weather Bureau issues maritime warning, rain and wind advisories as Typhoon Hinnamnor hovers

typhoon forecast map for Hinnamnor
Typhoon 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau issued a sea typhoon warning covering waters to the east, south and north of the island as moderate typhoon Himmanmor hovered around 470 kilometers east of Taiwan’s southernmost point this morning, Friday, September 2. The CWB issued the sea warning at 8:30 am for northeastern waters, eastern waters including Orchid Island and Green Island, and the Bashi Channel. The CWB pointed out that typhoon Himmanmor had weakened to a moderate typhoon with a central pressure of

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Retired tech exec to invest NT$1 billion to train 3 million civilians to help defend Taiwan against China

UMC founder and former Chairman Robert Tsao
Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

The founder and former chairman of chip manufacturer United Microelectronics (UMC) has pledged to invest NT$1 billion (US$32.8 million) to train 300,000 specialist marksmen, and 3 million “black bear warriors” to actively assist with regional defense in the face of growing threats from the People’s Republic of China. Robert Tsao revealed the plan at an international press conference held this morning, September 1, saying that the civilian force will cooperate with the soldiers of the national army to form an

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Man shot 7 times after threatening police officer with knives in Tainan City

composite image showing suspect armed with meat cleavers and police officer with gun
Violent Crimes 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

A man armed with two meat cleavers threatened police in Tainan yesterday, before being shot 7 times, just days after two police officers were stabbed to death in the city. According to reports, a 44-year-old man, named Wu, entered the Zhaigang Police Station in Xuejia District at around 3:00 pm yesterday, Friday, August 26. Wu complained about the heat and said that he wanted to take advantage of the police station’s air conditioning. However, Wu became agitated and suddenly pulled

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Two police officers dead after knife attack in Tainan City

police car abandoned during chase
Violent Crimes 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Two police officers are dead after a suspected motorcycle thief resisting arrest attacked them with a knife in Tainan City today, Monday, August 22. According to reports, 27-year-old Cao Ruijie and 36-year-old Tu Mingcheng from the Minquan Police Station were on a routine patrol when they spotted a suspected stolen motorcycle being ridden by a man in Annan District at around 11:00 am. When the officers pulled the suspect over in a remote location on an industrial road, the suspect

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Taiwanese man attending board game competition in China arrested and accused of Taiwan independence separatist activities

Taiwanese man Yang Zhiyuan arrested and facing charges in China
Politics 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

A Taiwanese man attending a board game competition in Wenzhou, China, has been arrested for being a “Taiwanese Separatist” as China attempts to strangle the democratic nation with a range of punitive economic sanctions, and a military exercise simulating the communist government’s ability to enforce a blockade of the island, cutting it off from the outside world. According to Chinese state media, the National Security Agency of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province arrested Yang Zhiyuan (楊智淵) Wednesday, and detained him on

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Pelosi plane takes a big detour to avoid South China Sea, Chinese coast

Flight route of SPAR19
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

A US Air Force jet carrying US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi flew in a large arc over Indonesia before turning north and flying over the Philippine Sea, completely avoiding flying over the South China Sea today, three days after China’s leading propagandist warned that the Chinese military could shoot the plane down. In a now-banned tweet, Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times, wrote, “If US fighter jets escort Pelosi’s plane into Taiwan,

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