The Taipei City Government yesterday said it would continue to inspect mobile fruit stands at the Shilin Night Market to protect consumers against overpricing, with the eventual goal of removing all mobile stalls in the area.
Several incidents of overpricing by mobile fruit stands were reported last month and subsequently confirmed by night market management, Taipei Department of Legal Affairs Consumer Protection Officer Ho Hsiu-lan (何修蘭) said.
The majority of mobile fruit stands — which offer cut fruit on-demand — overcharged customers by two to three times the market price, Ho said.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Department of Legal Affairs
They were probably encouraged by the fact that most of the area’s visitors are foreigners, who are not familiar with local fruit prices, Ho said.
The city government cannot dictate prices at the market, but last month it issued a total fine of NT$52,800 for 44 counts of breaching road, pollution and food safety laws, Ho said.
Only 19 mobile fruit vendors remain in the market, with two vendors quitting last month due to the fines, Market Administration Office Vendors’ Division head Yang Chung-cheng (楊忠誠) said.
Inspections are conducted twice a week, Yang said, adding that the ultimate goal is to remove all mobile fruit stalls.
Consumers can refuse a purchase if they feel that they did not reach an agreement on the price with the vendor or that the vendor is forcing them to do so, the Vendors’ Division said.
They should take note of the stall’s location and report it by calling 1999 to file a complaint, the division said, adding that it would prioritize that area of the market for inspection.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
RSS