Following an accident in Hsinchu County that killed 13 people on Sunday, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) yesterday said that both large and medium-size tour buses would be checked to see if the brakes still work after losing power.
Mao said buses are required to undergo three inspections per year. However, the inspections do not include ascertaining whether the brakes would continue functioning if the vehicle loses power.
He said the ministry would focus on three aspects in investigating the cause of the accident: the bus, road conditions and personnel
A video clip of the accident in Hsinchu captured on a dashboard camera showed that the bus had already driven past the curve on the highway. It should have continued moving forward, but it started to slide backward and fell into the valley instead.
The ministry said the bus was manufactured by Isuzu Motors. Since another bus of the same model had a similar accident in Taroko Gorge in Hualien earlier this month, the ministry had asked Isuzu’s agents in Taiwan to recall such buses which have been in operation for more than five years for inspection.
Directorate General of Highways (DGH) records show Taiwan has 193 medium buses that fit this criterion. DGH Deputy Director General Mile Chen (陳茂南) said Isuzu should conduct a random inspection of 20 percent of the buses by Thursday next week, checking their brake function.
“If none of them have problems, we will remove the bus as a factor behind the accident,” he said. “If any problem emerges, we will ask them to recall all buses of the same model for inspection.”
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