The legislature yesterday revised rules to more harshly penalize individuals who drive under the influence in a bid to curb alcohol-related car accidents.
Under the approved amendment to the Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road Traffic Regulations (道路交通管理處罰條例), fines were raised from NT$60,000 to NT$90,000 for drivers who exceed the blood-alcohol content limit or are under the influence of narcotics.
The amendments added a paragraph to the article to stipulate that drivers who commit violations two or more times within five years would also be fined an additional NT$90,000. The maximum penalty for those who refuse to stop for sobriety checks was raised to NT$90,000, from the current NT$60,000.
Meanwhile, the current penalties for refusing to take a breathalyzer test were retained under the amendment so that drivers face having their driver’s licenses suspended and their vehicles impounded.
The legislature also approved an amendment to Social Assistance Act (社會救助法) to expand social welfare benefits to more disadvantaged people.
The amendment stipulated that living allowances granted to vocational education students for joining school-industry industry partnerships were not a source of family income. The current rule has discouraged parents in low and low-to-medium income families from sending children to participate in the programs to avoid being disqualified from receiving benefits.
The amendment extended the coverage of the government’s housing allowances from low income families to low-to-medium income families.
The legislature also approved an amendment to the Enforcement Act of Conscription Act (兵役法施行法) to bring the act in line with the Act Of Military Service System (兵役法), which was revised in late 2011 to reduce the period of temporary mobilization from one year and 10 months to one year.
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
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
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