SOCIETY
Birth rate expected to rise
The number of births registered in the nation dropped to 199,113 last year, a decrease of 13.23 percent from 2012, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Last year, the total fertility rate was 1.07 births per woman, down from 1.27 in 2012, the ministry said. The number of babies born reached a high of 229,481 in 2012, mainly due to a preference for having children during the Year of the Dragon, as the dragon is considered the luckiest of the Chinese zodiac signs, the ministry said. The Year of the Dragon began on Jan. 23, 2012, and lasted until Feb. 9 last year. It was followed by the Year of the Snake, which ends on Jan. 30. The interior ministry said the nation’s birth rate is likely to increase this year based on an increase in the number of marriages last year.
LABOR
Council finds violations
Unpaid overtime was the most common violation among employers in Taiwan last year, according to a nation-wide inspection conducted by the Council of Labor Affairs. Making employees work overtime without proper compensation was the most common violation, council official said yesterday. Out of 14,000 inspections across different sectors, the council found violations of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) in 3,671 cases (26.2 percent), according to its latest report. Extra work without extra pay was the most common at 1,234 instances, with hospitality businesses accounting for 15.2 percent of them. The healthcare service ranked second for exploiting unpaid overtime, followed by the social services industry, the council said. The second most common violation was having employees work in excess of the maximum legal hours, council officials said. Under the Labor Standards Act, an employer is liable for up to NT$300,000 in fines for either of the two offenses.
EARTHQUAKE
Eastern Taiwan shaken
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake jolted eastern Taiwan at 2:15am yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau said. The quake’s epicenter was at sea, about 166.5km east of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 25.5km, bureau officials said. The strongest tremor, with an intensity of 2, was felt in several areas of Yilan, Hualien, Taitung, Changhua and Yunlin counties.
POLITICS
Tsai denies wrongdoing
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday denied any wrongdoing in a controversy linked to Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co when she was vice premier between 2006 and 2007. She said media reports that she supported the company when the government was trying to terminate a contract with it because of poor performance could be part of a politically motivated smear campaign against her. Tsai said she presided over a negotiation session with the company in June 2006, which failed to reach an agreement, but she had no role in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ decision to keep the contract. Tsai office spokesperson Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) issued a press release yesterday saying the resurrection of the allegations, which had been refuted by the Executive Yuan in 2006, could be an effort on the part of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to shift the focus away from its poor performance.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
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