Several women's organizations yesterday released a list of legislative candidates they deem friendly or unfriendly to issues relating to women.
"A panel of judges at the Awakening Foundation, after consulting with other women's organizations, has come up with a list of recommended candidates and a list of candidates to boycott," foundation chairwoman Fan Yun (范雲) said.
The groups' main criteria in compiling the recommendation list are whether lawmakers worked to promote legislation enhancing gender equality and women's rights or participated in relevant movements. Lawmakers with records of discriminatory statements were put on the boycott list, she said.
The top five candidates on the group's recommendation list are Huang Shu-ying (黃淑英) and Yang Fan-wan (楊芳婉) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Hsu Chung-hsiung (徐中雄) and Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) of the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
All five are serving lawmakers who were the main advocates behind amendments to the Gender Equality Employment Law (性別平等工作法), Domestic Violence Prevention Act (家庭暴力防治法), Sexual Harassment Prevention Law (性騷擾防治法) and sections in the Civil Code related to women's and children's rights, the group said.
KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) and independent legislator Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧) also received commendations from the group because of their efforts in pushing for legislation concerning women's rights.
First-time candidates Chen Man-li (陳曼麗), Peng Yen-wen (彭渰雯) and Wang Fang-ping (王芳萍) of the Green Party Taiwan, and Annie Lee (李安妮) of the Taiwan Solidarity Union were also commended for their active participation in the women's rights movement.
The DPP's Tsai Chi-fang (蔡啟芳), Lin Chun-mo (林重謨), Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙) and Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) were put on the boycott list for their discriminatory statements against women, Fan said.
"From the lists we can see that many of the women-friendly candidates are from smaller parties, while many of the gender-unfriendly lawmakers are from the nation's two major parties," Fan said. "We therefore would like to urge voters to give smaller parties a chance to play a key role in the legislature."
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS