A public hearing on establishing baby-care rooms in public places for breastfeeding and changing diapers was held by three DPP legislators yesterday.
Under Section 20 of the Children's Welfare Law (
Last year, the Department of Health allocated about NT$8 million for such purposes. Two hundred and eleven organizations submitted applications, 161 of which received subsidies, said Shiu Ruei-shiang (徐瑞祥), a Department of Health official.
Baby-care rooms typically contain fridges, couches, washbasins and daiper-changing tables.
Shiu suggested that the low rate of breastfeeding in Taiwan might be raised by the provision of more baby-care facilities.
He cited statistics from 1996 showing that 40 percent of Taiwanese mothers breastfeed, whereas 98 percent of Scandinavian and 60 percent of American mothers breastfeed.
"The benefits of breastfeeding are obvious. We hope to raise the breastfeeding percentage to 50 percent in four years," Shiu said.
The legislators, Chou Ya-shu (
They urged government departments to take the lead by opening them for their staff and drafting new rules to make them compulsory nationally, rather than merely encouraging them, as before.
Wei Lung-sheng (
He said, "It is more suitable to encourage than to compel. It is unnecessary to order those government departments which only have a few ladies to set up such facilities."
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2