The Ministry of the Interior will continue to work to improve human rights conditions in the country, especially in areas that the public finds unsatisfactory, Interior Minister Lee Yi-yang (
Lee was responding to the Taipei-based Chinese Association for Human Rights, which recently published its annual survey of the nation's human rights conditions.
The association's survey covered the views of ordinary citizens as well as "social elites" and "opinion leaders."
More than half of the respondents in the former category were positive about the overall rights conditions this year. They gave the highest rating to the conditions of women and the elderly, but added that "economic human rights" saw the biggest decline.
For "social elite", cultural and educational rights received the best rating, followed by judicial and economic rights, while protection for the elderly and physically and mentally challenged received the worst rating.
Lee said that increases in the indices for women's rights were probably the result of efforts by the government and the private sector in recent years in promoting women's rights.
On the slight decrease in the perceived personal safety of women, Lee said respondents may have thought that the government could not provide long-term or comprehensive assistance in cases involving domestic violence, sex crimes or harassment.
Since the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (
The ministry would continue to strengthen training of professionals to upgrade protection of victims of domestic violence, he said.
On the rights of physically and mentally challenged people, Lee said that the ministry was promoting community care to make sure these people enjoyed equal rights to schooling and employment as well as the right to choose a place of residence.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it