SOCIETY
Alishan open for weddings
The annual group wedding under the Sacred Tree on Alishan is to be held in mid-October, with 10 couples to be selected to take part in the event, the organizer said on Tuesday. Couples that have been married for less than a year or are planning to tie the knot soon can register to take part in the two-day event from Oct. 14, the Alishan National Scenic Area Administration said. The wedding will start with a two-day tour of the Alishan National Scenic Area and will include Alishan specialty dishes, a Tsou Aboriginal wedding ceremony and photography services, the organizer said. Registration is open until Aug. 15. The 10 couples will be selected through a draw, which will be streamed live on the event’s Facebook page on Aug. 16.
SECURITY
Female officer gets stipend
Chang Wei-jung (張維容), a native of Yunlin County, is the first Taiwanese female officer to receive a scholarship from the International Association of Women Police, the Yunlin County Police Bureau said on Monday. The association aims to strengthen, unite and raising the profile of women in law enforcement and each year offers its International Recognition and Scholarship Program to a serving female officer from outside North America. Chang works at the National Police Agency’s International Affairs Division in Taipei, Yunlin County Police Bureau Commissioner Hsu Hsi-jung (許錫榮) said. She is a veteran with 20 years on the force dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence and child abuse, Hsu said. Besides teaching other officers how to investigate and handle domestic violence cases, she has taken on numerous assignments throughout her career, including preventing human trafficking. She is the pride of Yunlin County and the nation’s police force, Hsu said.
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 US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative.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