China and Taiwan brace for their most powerful typhoon this year

BEIJING/TAIPEI, July 25 (Reuters) – China urged fishing boats to seek shelter and farmers to speed up their harvest, while Taiwan suspended annual military exercises as Super Typhoon Doksuri approached East Asia and could push deep into China.

Doksuri is likely to be the most powerful typhoon to hit China so far this year’s storm season. China narrowly escaped Typhoon Mawar, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record for the month of May, which headed for China but then turned north towards Japan before dissipating.

Nearly 1,000 km (620 miles) in diameter, Doksuri is expected to pass over the sparsely populated islands of the far north of the Philippines by midweek as fierce winds and heavy rains lash Taiwan to the north.

Philippine authorities have already raised storm warning levels in the capital region and dozens of northern provinces, and have begun evacuating some coastal communities in the path of the storm.

Currently carrying maximum winds of 138 miles per hour (223 kph), Doksuri will make landfall on the Chinese mainland somewhere between Fujian and Guangdong provinces on Friday, the China National Meteorological Center said on Tuesday.

While Doksuri is expected to lose some power and land as a typhoon or severe typhoon, it will still hit Chinese cities with torrential rain and strong winds.

Fujian ordered all deep-sea fishing boats to seek shelter in the nearest port by noon on Wednesday and told farmers to harvest their rice and other crops that have ripened.

Hong Kong will suspend some high-speed rail services from Wednesday to Friday between the former British colony and mainland coastal cities, including Xiamen in Fujian.

Concerned about fall grain crops, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs warned on Monday that Doksuri could move inland after landing, affecting tall-stemmed crops such as maize and even rice in rural areas.

After the storm has passed, plots without broken stems should be quickly straightened and flooded fields drained in time, with fast-acting fertilizers applied to speed plant recovery, the ministry said.

SOME EXERCISES CANCELED

Taiwan on Tuesday canceled some of its annual military exercises for security reasons, as authorities stepped up preparations for what they say could be the most damaging typhoon to hit the island in nearly four years.

It was unclear how the typhoon could further affect the five-day Han Kuang exercise, which will be held across the island this week to defend the island’s main international airport and how to keep shipping lanes open in the event of a Chinese blockade.

Beijing has never given up using force to bring the democratically governed island under its control. Taiwan rejects Beijing’s claims to sovereignty and has vowed to uphold its freedom and democracy.

Taiwan’s weather bureau issued land and sea warnings for southern Pingtun county, urging communities to prepare for heavy rain and strong winds.

In the southern port city of Kaohsiung, authorities scrambled to collect hundreds of containers floating in the sea after the Angel container ship sank off Taiwan’s southwest coast last week.

“Taiwan has not seen a typhoon make landfall in more than 1,400 days, and this is why I urge all government ministries to prepare and prepare,” Prime Minister Chen Chien-jen said in a Facebook post.

“I would like to remind citizens not to underestimate the threat of typhoons.”

Reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing and Yimou Lee in Taipei; Additional reporting by Karen Lema in Manila and Twinnie Siu in Hong Kong; Edited by Stephen Coates, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Angus MacSwan

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