The head of the Veterans Affairs Commission denied yesterday that the commission, on orders from the Executive Yuan, has told retired servicemen to participate in the March 20 referendum.
Commission chairman Teng Tsu-lin (
Teng also denied that the commission has used administrative resources to drum up support for President Chen Shui-bian's (
Teng made the remarks in response to questions raised by People First Party (PFP) legislators Chin Hui-chu (
The lawmakers also expressed concern that elderly veterans would have trouble casting three ballots without some confusion.
Teng said that he is confident that the veterans, despite being elderly, will have no problems and will choose wisely.
"Our veterans have a great deal of common sense and they are well informed from watching TV and reading newspapers," Teng said.
In related news, Teng told the committee that the government is not suspending the monthly pensions of veterans who have settled in China.
He said the government is continuing to pay pensions to the 5,514 veterans who are now living in China but have not applied for resident status or a passport from the PRC.
The Examination Yuan recently passed a regulation stipulating that retired servicemen, civil servants and school teachers will have to receive their retirement pensions in one lump sum rather than in monthly payments if they reside in China.
If they don't apply for a lump-sum payment, they may risk having their pensions withheld.
The commission has assigned personnel to China on a yearly basis to check whether veterans residing there have received ID cards issued by Beijing, Teng said.
He added that commission officials had been relieved to find that none of veteran s in China had accepted Chinese identification papers.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS