A series of public hearings and seminars will be held this month by the Ministry of the Interior on decriminalizing prostitution between consenting adults.
One of the hearings will be held in Taipei today, with another in Kaohsiung on Aug. 31, while the schedules for the two seminars are yet to be decided, according to the the ministry.
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The public hearings and seminars are being organized after justices of the Constitutional Court ruled last November that a provision in the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) allowing punishment for prostitutes, but not their patrons, is unconstitutional and must be invalidated within two years.
The ruling has forced the Executive Yuan to address the issue, as it must come up with measures within two years to not only revise the law, but also to establish a set of rules governing adult sex transactions.
UP FOR DEBATE
Areas likely to be tackled during the first public hearing will include whether sex transactions with the consent of both parties should be banned or punished, and whether places where adult sex transactions are conducted should be regulated after prostitution is decriminalized or legalized.
Topics such as whether prostitutes and sex trade businesses should be required to register and apply for official approval before launching their businesses, and whether married adults who use prostitutes face should criminal proceedings on adultery charges, are also expected to be discussed during the first hearing, ministry officials said.
The ministry has consulted academics and other experts on decriminalization, but so far no consensus has been reached on any area, including whether red-light zones like the ones in Amsterdam and Hamburg would be established in Taiwan.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all