A netizen’s petition to change Taiwan’s time zone from the same as China’s to that of Japan and South Korea has gathered enough signatures on an official Web site to prompt an official response, the National Development Council said on Thursday.
When petitions receive more than 5,000 signatures within 60 days on the online public policy participation platform, which the council created in 2015, a government agency must be designated to issue a public response via the platform within two months.
Council Director of Information Management Chuang Ming-fen (莊明芬) said an agency would be appointed to the petition within seven days and would have to respond by Dec. 19.
“The netizen’s proposal touches upon the jurisdiction of several ministries. The council is coordinating with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Ministry of the Interior and others,” Chuang said.
The netizen who launched the petition said that the country should leave the GMT+8 time zone, which it shares with Malaysia, China and parts of Indonesia and Australia, to the GMT+9 time zone, which covers Japan and South Korea.
The petition had garnered 7,879 signatures at press time last night.
“In the past, Taiwan belonged to GMT+9. North and South Korea, which are at similar latitudes with Taiwan, are also in the GMT+9 timezone. Switching time zone from GMT+8 to GMT+9 symbolically removes Taiwan from China and will serve as a subconscious reminder to Chinese and other foreign tourists in Taiwan that the country is not subordinated to China,” the petition said.
Moving the clock forward one hour would also save sunlight, the petition said.
A change of time zone would compel airports and airlines to change flight schedules, and systems for ticketing and sales, Civil Aeronautics Administration Air Transport Division Director Han Chen-hua (韓振華) said.
“The cost would be substantial and it would affect domestic airlines as well as foreign airlines that operate in Taiwan,” Han said.
Changing flight schedules would likely be troublesome because doing so would affect domestic and foreign airports, travel agencies, as well as hotels at the origin, destination and layover points for all of the country’s inbound and outgoing flights, an airline manager said on condition of anonymity.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co spokesman Lee Chien-kuo (李建國) said changing the country’s time zone would confuse travelers and disrupt the way of calculating time they are familiar with.
“This will cause difficulties, particularly with layover flights,” Lee said.
The airport handles 600 flights per day to and from 157 destinations and is used by 86 airlines, Lee said.
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
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
RSS