Salvage operation for crashed F-16 suspended until April-May 2021

December 18, 2020December 18, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment air-force, f-16, Hualien County

Air Force Command announced today that salvage operations for an F-16 that crashed off the coast of Hualien County will be suspended until April and May next year, due to poor weather and ocean conditions. The aircraft, carrying one pilot, went down around 13 kilometers northeast of Hualien City on November 17. See previous story: F-16 missing, suspected crashed off east coast of Taiwan The statement said that the location of the downed aircraft had been effectively calibrated after 56

R. Clarke Cooper Assistant Secretary of State for the Political and Military Bureau of the US State Department and Taiwan representative to the US Hsiao Bi-Khim

International Relations

December 18, 2020December 18, 2020 Phillip Charlier 1 Comment USA-Taiwan

A letter signed by 78 members of the US House of Representatives was handed to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo yesterday, calling for changing the name “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office” (TECRO) to “Taiwan Representative Office” (TRO). The move was led by Taiwan Caucus co-chairs Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL), calling upon the secretary to change the name of the unofficial Taiwan embassy in Washington DC. “The use of the word ‘Taipei’ fails to accurately reflect

Military Affairs

December 16, 2020December 16, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment accidental shooting, Kaohsiung City

An investigation into an accidental shooting has found that a .50 caliber machine gun bullet found at the scene most likely came from a marine exercise in waters near Chai Mountain last Friday. See previous story: Hiker suspected shot by stray bullet from military firing range A 66-year-old man named Chen was shot in the ankle while hiking on Chai Mountain in Kaohsiung City December 11. Investigators at first believed that the bullet came from a nearby military shooting range.

Live streamer AH Pang just before her phone was snatched during live broadcast

Crime and Criminals

December 14, 2020December 15, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment Sanchong District, snatch and grab

A live streamer on the video platform Twitch had her phone snatched in the middle of a broadcast as she walked down the street in Sanchong District, New Taipei City, today, December 14. “Ah Pang,” a 28-year-old video maker with more than 18,000 followers, was walking down Ziqiang Road while broadcasting at 5:24 pm, when a pair of robbers passing on a scooter snatched her Sony Experia 5 phone and handheld stabilizer and sped away. The robber’s face could be

Aviation

December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment china-airlines

China Airlines introduced its new Boeing 777F air freighter today, December 14, with a new livery that put the “China” in smaller letters at the tail end of the plane, and a big image of Taiwan front and center. The new livery comes after humanitarian flights delivering anti-epidemic supplies from Taiwan to various countries earlier this year were mistaken as having come from the People’s Republic of China. See previous story: Calls to rename Taiwan’s national airline raised again after

Society

December 13, 2020December 13, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment charity, sanxia-district, Taiwan police

Police officers who went to a man’s home after he failed to turn up to serve a prison sentence found a family struggling to survive, and decided to pitch in with blankets and food. When the District Prosecutor asked the man, Mr Wen, why he hadn’t turned up to serve his sentence, Wen replied that he had five children and a wife to look after. The family depended on a welfare subsidy of a little over NT$10,000 per month, and

modified pistol used in shooting in Hsinchu City

Violent Crimes

December 13, 2020December 13, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment Hsinchu City, shooting

A man working in a Hsinchu City breakfast shop was shot in the arm after a man fired shots from a passing car to express his anger at a “friend” who had pawned his car this morning, Sunday, December 13. The breakfast shop worker, who is not named in reports, was frying dough sticks at the front of the store at around 4:00 am, when he heard “sounds like firecrackers” from a car passing by. The man then felt tingling

Fire Bureau paramedics give first aid to man suspected to have been accidentally shot by stray bullet

Health and Safety

December 12, 2020December 12, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment accidental shooting, Kaohsiung City

A man hiking on a mountain in Kaohsiung City yesterday is suspected to have been shot in the ankle by a stray bullet from a military firing range 1.2 kilometers away. A 66-year-old man named Chen was hiking alone on a trail at Chai Shan at around 10:00 am, Friday, December 11, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left ankle. Chen found that he was bleeding, and began to descend the mountain. Around 100 meters down the

Aviation

December 12, 2020December 12, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment china-airlines

Taiwanese citizens were once again left red-faced after the BBC used a picture of Taiwan’s national carrier “China Airlines” to illustrate a news report about Chinese cabin crew being advised to wear diapers during flights as an epidemic prevention measure. At the same time, it was acknowledged that the fault did not lay with the BBC. The BBC reported that the Civil Aviation Administration of the People’s Republic of China had issued advice that cabin crew flying to and from

Business and Economy

December 11, 2020December 11, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment electric bus, Internet of Things, Internet of Vehicles

Industrial computing company Advantech (TWSE: 2395.TW) announced today that its Vietnam subsidiary and VinBus, a subsidiary of Vietnam’s VinGroup, which specializes in intelligent electric buses, have signed a strategic cooperation agreement. Under the strategic partnership agreement, the two companies will jointly develop intelligent electric bus management systems. VinBus intelligent electric buses will be Vietnam’s first public transportation vehicles to be equipped with Advanced Internet of Things (AIoT) technology. According to the agreement, Advantech and VinBus will cooperate to support and

Earthquakes

December 11, 2020December 11, 2020 Phillip Charlier 0 Comment earthquake

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake with an epicenter close to the coast of northeastern Taiwan was felt all over the island, and constitutes the biggest to hit Taiwan this year, according to data from the Central Weather Bureau (CWB). [Note: Taiwan uses moment magnitude scale: international sources using Richter scale are reporting magnitude 6.1] The earthquake, with an epicenter 27.2 kilometers east of Yilan County Hall, 24.74 degrees north latitude and 122.03 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 76.8 kilometers

Salvage operation for crashed F-16 suspended until April-May 2021

78 US House of Reps members call for naming Taiwan representative office “Taiwan Representative Office”

Stray bullet that hit hiker probably came from sea exercises

Phone snatched during live Internet broadcast in Sanchong District

China Airlines Cargo shrinks the “China” and brings Taiwan image to the fore

Police officers help family after father of 5 sent to prison

Breakfast shop worker shot by stray bullet after shots fired in anger

Hiker suspected shot by stray bullet from military firing range

Calls to rename Taiwan’s national airline raised again after BBC uses picture to illustrate China cabin crew diaper story

Taiwan’s Advantech signs strategic partnership with Vietnam’s VinBus to develop intelligent electric bus system

Magnitude 6.7 earthquake the biggest to strike Taiwan this year