TOURISM
Singaporeans laud Taipei
Taipei is the top tourism destination for Singaporeans to ring in the New Year, according to a survey by popular US tourism Web site TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor published on Thursday a list of the favored New Year’s destinations for Singaporeans, which was covered by the city-state’s Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao yesterday. Aside from Taipei, the other top cities were Hong Kong, their home city, Bangkok and Sydney. Among the favorite travel spots for Singaporeans, Hong Kong and Phuket reported the largest increases in hotel prices for the holiday.
WEATHER
Cold air mass approaching
The Central Weather Bureau said yesterday that another cold air mass is set to approach Taiwan today, sending temperatures plunging to lows of about 10?C in northern and central parts of the nation. The cold weather is likely to continue into Monday, with generally cloudy skies, the bureau said. Under the influence of the cold air mass, temperatures of between 11?C and 15?C can be expected in the north, between 10?C and 16?C in central Taiwan and between 12?C and 23?C in the south, the bureau said. However, before the air mass arrives, the weather is expected to remain relatively warmer, with highs of between 17?C and 21?C, the bureau said. However, it forecast that mountainous areas and northeastern Taiwan in particular could expect rain, while snow was likely yesterday evening in high mountainous areas.
INTERNET
Ministry takes aim at Uber
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday it would order Uber to shut down its local operations unless the smartphone app-based transport network obtains the correct business license. The ministry said Uber has registered as an information services business, while in reality is it operating a transportation business. The company has also recruited drivers who do not have the commercial driver’s license normally required to be a taxi driver. The Uber app takes ride requests from users and pairs them with drivers to avoid the hassle of hailing a taxi. Since September, the government has slapped dozens of fines of between NT$50,000 and NT$100,000 on the company and its drivers for violating the Highways Act (公路法), the ministry said. It said that the company has continued to ignore Taiwan’s legal requirements and has still not filed an application for a car transport business license. San Francisco-based Uber entered the local market in the middle of last year. As with many other countries in which it has launched services, it has faced hurdles due to local regulations and taxi drivers worried about losing business.
EDUCATION
Huang takes helm at PEN
Former minister of cultural affairs and deputy minister of education Huang Pi-twan (黃碧端) took over as president of Chinese Taipei Center of International PEN on Wednesday. Following a handover ceremony presided over by the center’s auditor, Hu Yao-heng (胡耀恆), Huang said she would continue the tradition upheld by her predecessor, Perng Ching-hsi (彭鏡禧), and others to promote literary exchanges with other countries. Perng is leaving after finishing a four-year term. The Chinese PEN was established in 1924 in China. In 1958, it was moved to Taiwan. It publishes a quarterly English translation of poems, novels, essays and other literary works by Taiwanese authors and poets.
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
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
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
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