Allegedly inspired by a letter from a physically challenged girl, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is now planning to make it mandatory for restaurants to have wheelchair-accessible facilities on the ground floor.
Earlier this month, eight-year-old Chen Min-yu (陳玟聿), who requires a wheelchair to move around, wrote a letter to the McDonald’s restaurant chain saying she had always dreamed of having a meal or celebrating her birthday at a McDonald’s restaurant.
However, her dream has never been fulfilled because most McDonald’s restaurants have stairs at their entrances and some provide seating areas only on the second floor.
PROTEST
After the girl’s letter was released to the media, a group of people in wheelchairs attempted to enter a branch of the restaurant chain in Taipei and protested outside for hours after realizing it was impossible to get their wheelchairs into the restaurant.
Amid the furor surrounding the unfair treatment of individuals with physical disabilities, the ministry responded by mulling new regulations requiring restaurants to provide wheelchair-accessible facilities at least on the ground floor.
MEETING
Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said the ministry had decided during a routine meeting last week to complete revisions of relevant laws to make it mandatory to ensure the first floor of all restaurants can be accessed by people with physical disabilities.
“We plan to invite academics, restaurant operators, as well as groups promoting welfare for the physically challenged, to discuss more details about the planned policy after the Lunar New Year holidays,” Jiang said.
Based on the initial plan, new restaurants would have to meet the requirement immediately, while existing restaurants would be given a buffer period and incentives to make the changes, he said.
Groups advocating the rights and welfare of physically challenged individuals welcomed the policy.
“The policy should be implemented as soon as possible,” said Hsu Chao-fu (許朝富), chief executive director of Access for All in Taiwan, a non-profit organization advancing the rights of the disabled.
“Because everyone has to eat everyday, they [the physically challenged] face the problem of wheelchair access every day,” Hsu added.
However, he said the needs of physically challenged individuals went beyond having accessible entrances to restaurants.
“We also need accessible toilets,” he said.
Aside from restaurants, there should be accessible facilities at other public places as well, Hsu said.
“Otherwise, the definition of ‘public place’ may be different for people with disabilities and those without,” he said.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
RSS