■ LABOR
Unpaid leave up 10%
More than 200,000 workers nationwide are taking forced unpaid leave, which represents a 10 percent increase over the number recorded in a survey before the Lunar New Year, the Council for Labor Affairs said yesterday. The council said the estimate was based on reports on unpaid leave practices submitted on Jan. 16 by 439 companies. Since last month local companies have had to report the number of workers they ask to take unpaid leave to the council so the council can monitor the impact of falling exports on the labor market, Department of Labor Standards head Sun Pi-hsia (孫碧霞) said. Starting this week, the council will conduct random inspections at approximately 200 companies to check if they obtained consent from employees before asking them to take unpaid leave and whether their workers were receiving at least the minimum monthly salary of NT$17,280 as required by law, Sun said. The number of workers on full or partial unpaid leave in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park is more than 10,000, accounting for 77 percent of the park’s total work force.
■ DIPLOMACY
Chiang urges decision
The government must decide whether to include the issue of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with China as part of the agenda in the next round of cross-strait negotiations, Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) said yesterday at the Summit on Investing in New China forum held at the Taipei International Convention Center. Chiang said that no talks on a CECA would be launched during the first part of the year and that he must wait until he has been authorized before he can touch upon the subject with Beijing. Chiang said signing a CECA with Beijing was a complex matter and that both sides could either complete the talks all at once or segment the negotiations by discussing the framework first, and then the content.
■ TOURISM
Trains added for festival
Extra train services to the Alishan Forest Recreation Area will be provided during the cherry blossom season, which is expected to draw a large number of visitors, the train operator said yesterday. In addition to the regular daily service that departs at 1:25pm from Chiayi, two more services — departing at 9am and 10am respectively — will be available daily between March 15 and April 15. The company said online ticketing for the cherry blossom season was now available on its Web site.
■ RELIGION
PRC official meets monks
The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) top official on religious affairs held low-key meetings with several Buddhist masters on Monday to discuss the upcoming World Buddhist Forum. Ye Xiaowen (葉小文), head of the PRC’s State Bureau of Religious Affairs, visited Master Wu Ming (悟明) of the Faming Monastery in Shulin (樹林), Taipei County, and then traveled to Kaohsiung to meet Ching Hsin (淨心) of the Chinese Buddhist Association. The forum will be held in Taipei and Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, between March 27 and April 1. Kenneth Fan (范光陵), president of the World Congress of Cultures, said that Ye’s visit showed China has begun to attach more importance to religion following a period of greater economic development and cultural openness. Ye was invited by the Dharma Drum Mountain Cultural and Educational Foundation. He attended the burial ceremony of Dharma Drum founder Master Sheng Yen (聖嚴) on Sunday.
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