Attacks mounted on legislators and members of the Cabinet yesterday, as the Legislative Yuan's Health, Environment and Social Welfare Committee
The revisions will extend the range of non-smoking areas and fines for smoking within them.
Among those criticized for setting a bad example were Government Information Office director-general Chung Chin
When asked by legislators if he will enforce the revised act, Department of Health director-general Lee Ming-liang (李明亮) said he was appalled that government officials were setting a bad example and that he would impose fines on the spot for those he caught violating the act.
He also said he would try to talk Cabinet members into giving up the habit.
In the report at the legislature, Lee said about 10,000 people in Taiwan die annually from smoking -- resulting in a loss to the economy of more than NT$13 billion per year.
According to statistics provided by the health department, male smokers over the age of 18 account for 47.29 percent of the smoking population -- down from the 1973 figure of 60 percent.
On the other hand, female smokers over the age of 18 are on the rise -- and currently represent 5.23 percent of the smoking population. The remaining fraction of the group -- smokers under 18 years of age -- is also increasing, the report said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
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State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
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