GOVERNMENT
Professor joins council
A National Dong Hwa University assistant professor has been named the new deputy head of the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples, the Cabinet said in a statement yesterday. Chen Chang Pei-lun (陳張培倫), who works in the university’s Department of Indigenous Development and Social Work, will assume the post that former council deputy head Kao Yang-sheng (高揚昇) left on July 31 to take over as Deputy Taoyuan County Magistrate. Chen Chang, a member of the Bunun group whose Aboriginal name is Tunkan Tansikian, has spent many years researching the rights of indigenous peoples and served as a consultant to the council, the Cabinet said.
TECHNOLOGY
Taipei inks city domain deal
The Taipei City Government yesterday signed a registry agreement with the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to open the top-level domain suffix “.taipei” for registration in November, according to the Taipei Department of Information Technology. The agreement was signed in the capital by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and ICANN board member Wu Kuo-wei (吳國維). Hau said Web sites for the special 1999 phone line for city residents and the public bicycle rental system YouBike would be among the first to adopt the “.taipei” suffix. Yesterday’s deal brings to 14 the number of Taiwanese cities to have secured their own top-level domains, according to the Chinese-language Apple Daily.
GOVERNMENT
Ma vows to help firefighters
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Tuesday promised to give full support to the nation’s firefighters, who have complained of a lack of equipment and a shortage of manpower. Ma made the remarks at a ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) meeting after about 100 firefighters petitioned the Ministry of the Interior on Monday asking the government to improve their working conditions. Six firefighters died in the Greater Kaohsiung pipeline explosions caused by propene leaks on July 31 and Aug. 1, while another was injured on Friday last week in a gas explosion at an apartment in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店). The petitioners called on the government to give them more higher-quality equipment and increase personnel, among other demands, so they can do their jobs better and more safely.
DIPLOMACY
Taiwan role model: Widodo
Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo has cited Taiwan as a role model for his country, saying that advances in Taiwan’s human resources have led to high productivity. Manpower development is the biggest challenge facing Indonesia, Widodo said at a forum in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on Monday, describing the situation as a matter that must be dealt with, according to a report on detik.com, an Indonesian online news portal. Widodo said he shares the views of Indonesian writer Mochtar Lubis on the weaknesses of Indonesians, including hypocrisy, lack of a sense of responsibility, being superstitious and lacking courage. Another characteristic needing work is a lack of attention to quality, Widodo said. He said he relates to that well, based on his past experience working in furniture exports, which left him with an impression of the little importance Indonesians attach to quality. However, it is possible for Indonesia to catch up with countries such as Taiwan, Singapore and Japan, whose people are highly productive, through education, the Jakarta governor said. The changes are vital to the country’s productivity and competitiveness, he said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS