LABOR
Committee to talk wages
A committee convened by the Ministry of Labor is to meet on Thursday next week with government and labor representatives, as well as business leaders, in a bid to reach an agreement on wage increases. The Cabinet in May put forward a series of proposals to improve working conditions for low-wage earners, including a suggestion to raise the statutory hourly wage from NT$140 to NT$150, while Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions secretary-general Tai Kuo-jung (戴國榮) said it should be increased to NT$164. The Chinese National Federation of Industries, which represents most of the nation’s manufacturers, said the government should respect market mechanisms when considering adjustments to the minimum wage.
CRIME
Man jailed over murder
A man who had confessed to murdering his brother and stealing his identity in an attempt to avoid jail and defraud an insurance company was on Monday sentenced to life in prison by the Taichung District Court. The man, surnamed Lin (林), 48, had accumulated debt and was involved in multiple lawsuits after his company went bankrupt, the court said. On June 1 last year, Lin took his brother out for a drink and, after getting him drunk, took him to a redevelopment site where he killed him, it said. Lin left his driver’s license and 10 dice at the crime scene, chopped off his brother’s hands and burned the body in a bid to misdirect police, the court said. Lin’s mother had taken out life insurance policies on the brothers and provided Lin with a certificate to help him apply for documents in his brother’s name, the court added. It also sentenced Lin’s mother to three months in prison for forgery.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost