Yesterday was the first day that fines for vehicles left idling on the side of the road for more than three minutes went into effect, but warnings were handed out to drivers instead of fines at most inspection sites across the nation.
According to the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法), introduced on March 1 and which took effect yesterday, drivers of idling vehicles should turn off their engines if they stay in the same spot for more than three minutes, or else face a fine of NT$1,500 for motorcycles, NT$3,000 for small cars and NT$5,000 for larger vehicles.
In Taipei, the Department of Environmental Protection yesterday clamped down on drivers who failed to abide by the law around National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Taipei City Hall and the Taipei Martyrs’ Shrine during the morning rush hour.
Photo: CNA
In response to complaints that the government of using the law to rob people, commissioner of the department Wu Sheng-chung (吳盛忠) said the department will remind drivers and give warnings before giving fines.
The department issued warning tickets to 88 drivers yesterday, but did not give fines, as all drivers switched off their engines after being reminded by the department staff, Wu said.
According to previous data on air pollution density changes in Taipei, the highest density usually occurs about 10am, after drivers head out for work in their vehicles, Wu said, adding that the air pollution often becomes worse in the summer.
The bureau said it would set 7am to 10am as its main inspection time, with eight tourist attractions, 12 frequently busy streets and 38 sections where violations were found during the grace period as key inspection sites.
The department is also paying more attention to possible violations at schools, hospitals and bus and train stations — where drivers are most likely to park their cars while keeping their engine running, Wu added.
Meanwhile, 43 warnings and non-imposed fines were given out yesterday morning in Greater Taichung, while more than 100 warnings were handed out in Greater Kaohsiung.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods