SOCIETY
Foreign worker numbers up
The number of foreign workers in Taiwan in June increased by 9.73 percent year-on-year to a total of 403,492, according to the latest government statistics released by the Ministry of the Interior. As of the end of June, Indonesian workers accounted for 41.32 percent of the total, followed by Vietnamese (21.57 percent), Filipinos (19.59 percent) and Thais (17.52 percent), the ministry’s figures showed. The ministry attributed the increase of migrant workers to higher demand for manpower as a result of Taiwan’s recovering economy. Over the past five years, Indonesia has replaced Thailand as the largest source of foreign workers in Taiwan, the ministry said. According to ministry statistics, migrant workers accounted for about 70 percent of the 588,339 foreign nationals in the country as of the end of June. A total of 46,537 of these foreign nationals are spouses, about 50 percent of whom are from Vietnam, the ministry said. The number of foreign spouses dropped 5.76 percent from a year earlier, mainly because those who obtained Republic of China nationality are no longer classified as foreign nationals, the ministry said.
EDUCATION
Salvadorans get scholarships
A total of 26 young people from El Salvador have received Taiwan-sponsored scholarships and will arrive in Taiwan later this month to pursue their studies, Ambassador to El Salvador Jaime Chen (陳新東) said yesterday. Chen made the remarks at an award ceremony in the Central American country that was co-hosted by Salvadoran Deputy Minister for Development Cooperation Jaime Miranda and Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Castaneda. Among the 26 awards, 10 were provided by the Taiwan Scholarship Program, which is funded by the Ministry of Education. Chen encouraged more international students to make use of the scholarship programs on offer and to come to Taiwan to pursue further education. The other scholarships included seven under the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship program and nine offered by the International Higher Education Scholarship Program.
SOCIETY
Victims’ families in China
Family members of four Taiwanese killed in a deadly traffic accident in Jilin Province on Monday were on their way to China to claim the bodies of their relatives, Lion Travel Service said yesterday. A total of 19 people were to visit the traffic department of Jilin City, where the bodies are being kept. The accident, which injured 15 other Taiwanese, occurred on Monday afternoon on the Hunwu Expressway, initially reported to be on the Changji Expressway. A vehicle changing lanes smashed into the side of the bus, sending it careening into a ditch. Some of the victims were thrown out of the bus.
JUDICIARY
Suspended judge retires
The Judicial Yuan said on Monday a senior judge who had applied for reinstatement after being suspended had changed his mind and that his request to take voluntary retirement had been granted. According to the Judicial Yuan, Hsiao Yang-kuei (蕭仰歸) agreed his actions had undermined the image of the judiciary and affected the public perception its integrity. Hsiao, a Supreme Court judge, was impeached in October last year by the Control Yuan for lobbying another judge to rule favorably in a hit-and-run case involving his son. The Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries suspended Hsiao in January for six months and upon its expiration at the end of last month, Hsiao filed an application with the Supreme Court.
SOCIETY
Dog owner charged in crash
The owner of a dalmatian weighing 30kg has been charged with negligence after her dog caused a scooter driver to fall to the ground and suffer a ruptured spleen, prosecutors said on Monday. The Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said the dog’s owner, a woman surnamed Wang (王), was leaving to take her son to a bus stop on a scooter on Dec. 1, when the dog broke loose from its chains and chased after them. During the chase, the dalmatian grazed the back of another scooter, causing that driver to lose control and fall to the ground. The female driver suffered a ruptured spleen and internal bleeding, while the dog apparently emerged from the accident unscathed. The indictment described the dalmatian as a sturdy dog that needed to be kept on a tight leash and said Wang’s failure to do so made it possible for the dog to run free and endanger others.
CRIME
Rape case concerns Seoul
A case of attempted rape against a female Taiwanese backpacker in South Korea has drawn the attention of Seoul, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang (章計平) said on Monday. The victim was allegedly attacked by the owner of a homestay in Andong on July 22. After escaping from the grasp of her assailant, the woman left the homestay and called Taiwan’s representative office in Busan for help, Chang said. The office assisted her in reporting the case to the local police. The case also drew the attention of the Korea Tourism Organization, which called Andong police to express its concern. The tourism agency has removed the homestay from its Web site at Taipei’s request, Chang said. The suspect, who failed a lie detector test, has been released on bail, Chang said, adding that the ministry would closely follow
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard