New identification (ID) cards for Taiwanese citizens will be issued on Wednesday. The question now is whether political leaders will have to pick up their cards in person.
Deputy Interior Minister Chien Tai-lang (
He also said that out of respect for the nation's leaders, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) would probably be given the choice of having their ID cards delivered to their homes or picking them up in person, while all others should pick up their cards in person.
He said, however, that the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) could do nothing but respect the decision of the local household-registration authorities, if they require that Chen and Lu pick up their ID cards in person.
Chien said that ministers and deputy ministers would have to pick up their cards themselves.
The reason that ID cards must be picked up in person is that the authorities must be able to verify that the card has been issued to the right person.
The MOI yesterday also denied media reports according to which Sun Yueh (孫越), a popular actor-turned-volunteer, will receive the first new ID card.
To mark the issuance of the new ID cards, the ministry will hold a ceremony at the Taan District's population administrat-ion office on Wednesday.
Nearly 19 million of the new ID cards will be handed out before the deadline set for Dec. 31 next year.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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