The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed an amendment to the Money Laundering Control Act (
The amendment states that those who give financial assistance to terrorist organizations or their members will be sentenced to a maximum of seven years' imprisonment or fined a maximum of NT$10 million (US$302,000).
Taiwan, a member of Egmont Group under the name "Money Laundering Prevention Center (MLPC), Taiwan" since 1998, was asked to enact legislation on the financing of terrorism to enhance cooperation in anti-terrorist activity, Vice Minister of Justice Chu Nan (朱楠) said before the legislation passed.
After the legislation passed, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator You Ching (尤清) said the law would help Taiwan protect its status in the international organization as China has been planning to join the group and lobby for Taiwan's name to be changed to "MLPC, Chinese Taipei."
The Act stipulates that money-laundering activities totaling more than NT$5 million would face heavier sentences. The threshold has been lowered from NT$20 million. It requires that domestic financial institutions report any transfers exceeding NT$5 million to the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau.
The legislature yesterday also approved an amendment to the Law of Compensation for Wrongful Detentions and Executions (冤獄賠償法).
The amendment will allow people who are handed "wrongful" sentences under various laws to apply for compensation.
The amount of compensation for those wrongly sentenced to death has been significantly increased in the amendment. Previously between NT$5 million and NT$ 10 million, the new range is NT$10 million to NT$30 million.
An amendment to the Employment Services Act (就業服務法) also cleared the floor yesterday, extending the maximum stay for immigrant laborers from six years to nine years.
DPP Legislator Wang Shin-nan (
An amendment to the Animal Protection Law (
Any person convicted of harassing, abusing, harming or abandoning an animal, leading to injury or death, may now be sentenced to up to one year in prison.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition