Green Island, Orchid Island ferries suspended again due to typhoon

Green Island, Orchid Island ferries suspended again due to typhoon

2023-08-02

Typhoon Khanun is the second storm to hit Taiwan in two weeks, arriving on the heels of Typhoon Doksuri. On Wednesday, ferries were once again suspended on Green Island and Orchid Island due to high waves. Services will be closed for up to four days, depending on the path of the storm. In Miaoli County, the typhoon brought so much rain to Mingde Reservoir that officials are releasing water to make room.

With Miaoli’s Mingde Reservoir approaching full capacity, water officials released water on Wednesday in preparation for Typhoon Khanun. The storm’s outer bands brought heavy rains over the course of the day. All five places with the most rainfall were in Miaoli, raising fears that the reservoir would overflow.

Passengers arrived at Taiwan proper, returning from Green Island and Orchid Island before the suspension of ferry services. On the way back, tall waves made it a rough journey.

Over at Green Island, big waves battered the shore. The typhoon raised swells along the northern and eastern coast of Taiwan. Ferries on Green Island and Orchid Island were suspended Wednesday afternoon. The suspension could last three days, but it will ultimately depend on the storm’s path.

The storm has dealt a hard blow to tourism. At the popular surfing destination of Wushi Harbor in Yilan, waves buried tables and chairs in the sand. Umbrellas were wrecked, and surfboards lay strewn across the beach. Braving the rain, staff from local businesses rushed to recover their things.

Fishers at Nanfang’ao were in a race against time to secure their vessels to the dock with thick ropes. It was no easy task, as the high tide had brought the seawater above the dock and onto the road. With two typhoons in quick succession, fishers have been left with no choice but to go on summer break.

卡努環流挟雨灌台綠島出現大浪封島3天

2023-08-02

颱風就要來，各地都在防颱做準備，漁民趕緊將漁船靠港，衝浪勝地，宜蘭烏石港，業者也趕緊收拾生財工具。東部及北部海域都已經有長浪現身，綠島、蘭嶼船班預警性停航，封島三、四天，旅客一早趕搭最後一班船回來。卡努威力驚人，外圍環流已經帶來雨勢，苗栗明德水庫一早洩洪，預作準備。

苗栗明德水庫，接近滿水位，上午預先洩洪，為颱風做準備。因為，卡努外圍環流才剛來報到，週三累積雨量前五名，都由苗栗拿下，就怕滂沱大雨，讓水庫滿載。

旅客大包小包，提下船。搶在封島前，趕緊從蘭嶼、綠島回到本島。只是一路上，旅客就直呼，風浪不平靜。

綠島海上翻起陣陣大浪，一波波朝岸邊襲來。中颱卡努威力驚人，北部、東部海域，已經出現長浪，綠島、蘭嶼，週三午後船班，全數停駛。封島三天，何時開？得看颱風路徑，再觀察。

觀光業受影響，衝浪勝地，宜蘭烏石港，桌椅被海浪沖到埋進沙灘，陽傘東倒西歪，衝浪板層層堆在一起。業者冒雨，趕緊將生財工具收一收。

南方澳漁民抓緊最後時間，將漁船靠岸，拿出粗繩緊捆。但正值漲潮，海水漲到跟碼頭齊高，導致海水不斷，流上路面、流進水溝。而兩個颱風接力來，漁民被迫放暑假，實在好無奈。

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The Presidential Office has unveiled the itinerary of Vice President Lai Ching-te’s upcoming trip to Paraguay. Next Saturday, Lai will embark on a seven-day journey that includes stops in New York and San Francisco. He’ll spend two days in Paraguay, attending its presidential inauguration, meeting its new president, and engaging with the local community of Taiwanese expats. According to the Presidential Office, Lai’s two goals for the visit will be to deepen the Taiwan-Paraguay friendship and expand bilateral cooperation.

Lin Yu-chan
Presidential Office spokesperson
Vice President Lai Ching-te has been specially appointed to celebrate the inauguration of a head of state of a diplomatic ally. He will go to Paraguay to convey our regard and congratulations to this important ally.

The Presidential Office formally announced that Lai will lead a delegation to Paraguay in mid-August.

Lin Yu-chan
Presidential Office spokesperson
President Tsai hopes that the delegation will achieve the two primary goals of deepening the Taiwan-Paraguay friendship and expanding bilateral cooperation.

Alexander Yui
Deputy foreign minister
The vice president will visit Paraguay in the capacity of a special envoy. His activities will include attending the presidential inauguration, meeting incumbent president Mario Abdo Benitez and President-elect Santiago Pena, attending a state banquet, and attending a celebration marking the presidential inauguration and the 486th anniversary of Asuncion’s founding. Throughout his trip, he will have natural interactions with Paraguay officials and foreign dignitaries attending the inauguration ceremony. Vice President Lai will also meet with Taiwanese expats in Paraguay and from neighboring nations.

Recent reports suggest that Lai originally wanted to transit through Washington, D.C. The rumor is believed to have been spread by Victor Chin, the KMT’s deputy representative in the U.S. The KMT has denied any involvement.

Alex Huang
Presidential Office deputy secretary-general
I think that Taiwan is a democratic country. Political parties should compete at home but unite before the world. That’s a basic principle. I very much hope that this information isn’t true. It would be very regrettable if it were true.

Lai’s delegation will depart on Aug. 12 and stop over in New York, before arriving in Paraguay on Aug. 14. Lai will attend the inauguration on Aug. 15, spend the next night in San Francisco, and return home on Aug. 18, wrapping up a seven-day state trip.

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Light sculpture exhibition inspired by the sea and light

Today we take you to meet emerging artist Feronia Liang. Still a senior in high school, she has already won several art awards and created works in a variety of mediums. FTV reporter Stephany Yang caught up with the teen, to learn more about her new exhibition.

Walk into the pitch-dark exhibition and you’ll be greeted by beautiful sculptural light works and calming music. These works were created by Feronia Liang, a high-school senior. She spent nearly a year creating these works out of plaster and light. Many of her works are inspired by the sea. This work, “Core,” is inspired by coral.

Feronia Liang
Artist
The value from "Core" that I want to draw from is the value of being very stable and having a sense of stability in life and knowing where your values lie and knowing what you want to pursue in the future is very important value. I think creating this all-dark ambiance and sort of highlighting the aesthetic aspect of light, instead of this functional aspect, really brings out the beauty of light in our lives.

This work titled “Poise” was inspired by a turtle shell. It’s a reflection on the importance of being confident.

Feronia Lin
Artist
“Poise" as in posture and how having a good posture not only physically, but mentally to have your head up tall and face the world with confidence is a very important thing to have in life. A very interesting thing about this work in particular is that it has a red light shining from the top. That is from the studio that I work with that has a red light on the top.

This piece is titled "Seeker." It is a light sculpture inspired by sardines.

Feronia Liang
Artist
“Seeker” is a little bit different because instead of being inspired by a single organism in the sea, it is inspired by the collective movement of sardines surging out from the sea. What this work wanted to convey is that like the sardines, they’re going in the direction. They are going in it together. I think as a general advice is that when you are curious about something when you want to discover something, sometimes it is good to do it but also remember that you have a lot of people around you that will support you in this process.

“Hadal Zone - Light is the Revelation” is an immersive art exhibition that showcases Liang’s sculptural light works. The works were inspired by the deepest zone in the ocean and a quote by James Turell, a pioneer of the 1960s Light and Space Movement. Through the exhibition, Liang hopes to create a peaceful atmosphere that encourages people to be introspective.

Feronia Liang
Artist
“Hadal Zone” is the term for the deepest part of the ocean. This part of the ocean is pure black. Personally, what this means for me is that the ocean and the dark is something I have always been afraid of. I think it is very important as an artist to explore what you are afraid of and step out of your comfort zone.

Liang is currently a senior in high school. She began to foster an interest in art at a young age, experimenting with different mediums. She says she wants to pursue an architectural career. She has interned at a few companies and won several awards.

Feronia Liang
Artist
I have done a lot of different mediums in the past. I have done 2D, watercolor, oil, 3D, this series right here, and also worked with metal works, and all that. In particular, with all my foundation and all my education built in, I think I would like to pursue a more architectural career.

Liang’s art exhibit will be on display at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park till Aug. 6.

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TSMC under fire for blaming Arizona delays on skills deficit

Meanwhile in the U.S. state of Arizona, the construction of TSMC’s first American chip plant is well behind schedule. The company has blamed a skills shortage among American workers. But an Arizona union leader is firing back, saying local workers are experienced and fully qualified. According to Aaron Butler, TSMC is using the skills deficit as an excuse to bring in low-paid labor from Taiwan.

At this large factory built over a desert, giant cranes stretch into the sky. This is TSMC’s facility in Arizona, where construction is still underway.

Voice of Mark Liu (July 20)
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As there is an insufficient amount of skilled workers with the specialized expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility, we expect the production schedule of N4 process technology to be pushed out to 2025.

With the U.S. project delayed, TSMC’s contractors have reportedly launched an urgent recruitment campaign in Taiwan. According to a source, one contractor put up a job listing for manual labor, offering NT$150,000 a month plus overtime, with free transport to the U.S., free housing, and tax incentives. The job was open to inexperienced workers, but restricted to those with a red supplier work permit issued by TSMC.

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For a wage of NT$150,000 a month, this entails working the entirety of the month. As for going overseas to take this job, there’s no way a self-employed worker could do it. There might be a broker’s fee involved. Taiwan also has a severe labor shortage. So pulling people from this market to that market wouldn’t be easy.

TSMC itself has assigned Taiwanese staff to its Arizona site. But the move has faced pushback from local unions. In a column for a local business journal, union head Aaron Butler says there are thousands of local workers with experience building fabs for Intel. He says that blaming American workers for project delays is offensive, and is an excuse for importing low-paid labor. In response, TSMC said the project was currently in a critical phase and it had sent in a limited number of specialists, who would not affect the original staffing plans for 12,000 workers. TMSC pledged to continue hiring locally, emphasizing that local workers would not be replaced with foreign ones. It said it would continue to work with suppliers to create job opportunities.

Yang Tsung-pin
Job bank spokesman
When businesses move to countries where wages are higher, there will inevitably be conflict with local unions. Taiwan’s wage level, compared to nations around the world, is lower than the level in Europe and the U.S.

TSMC’s procurement demands have had a significant impact on its supply chain’s output value. According to its latest sustainability report, it created an output value of NT$2.07 trillion in the supply chain in 2022. It also generated 309,000 local job opportunities and NT$238.52 billion in payroll through the supply chain. Amid setbacks at its Arizona facility, the firm has reiterated its commitment to working with the local supply chain to generate economic benefits for the U.S.

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Livestream channels show off the beauty of Yilan’s coastline

An Yilan local has set up livestream channels for the beauty spots of Su’ao Township. The coastal livestreams let admirers enjoy Yilan’s scenery from all over the world. But they also give locals a chance to keep track of the coastline, so that the ocean could be protected and accidents prevented. We spoke to Yen Po-lin about the project to bring Yilan’s coastline to the world.

Rolling mountains are the backdrop for a sea covered in white horses. This beautiful landscape is “Lovers’ Bay” in Yilan’s Su’ao Township. Now it can be enjoyed all over the world on this internet livestream. Its host, Yen Po-lin, moved back to his hometown of Su’ao to throw himself into local regeneration.

Yen Po-lin
Yilan scenery live cam host
In order to market our local scenery, I looked to other countries, for example Venice, or Osaka and Harajuku in Japan, where they all do this.

Yen opened a drinks store when he returned to Su’ao. He almost got into a collaboration with local officials to publicize the area, but the deal fell through. Then, after a tragic seaside accident in May, he had a fresh idea.

Yen Po-lin
Yilan scenery live cam host
A female student drowned at Nanfang’ao, and that made me think, “This isn’t good enough. I have to do something.” So I started to plan how I could set up this livestream camera.

To create the livestreams, Yen got permission from local officials to set up three 4K high-resolution cameras on roofs, at the gym of Nan’an Junior High, on a local cafe, and at the service office of Nanjian Borough. He spent NT$110,000 of his own money in the process. Local fundraising also raised NT$20,000 for the project, covering the cost of 20 months of livestreaming.

Member of public
It’s great. We can see what’s going on at any time, and also see the beauty.

Member of public
It means you don’t have to go down there to look, you can just see it on your phone.

Installing the cameras has not only given us a remote glimpse of Yilan’s natural beauty; it also helps people protect the ocean. Yen hopes to set up cameras at the No. 1 and No. 3 Fishing Harbors, as well as on Tofu Cape, to bring even more eyes to his homeland’s spectacular coast.

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