SOCIETY
ID verification launched
The Department of Household Registration has added a new function to its Web site that allows users to verify the authenticity of national ID numbers to curb fraud. The measure was implemented amid complaints that several telecom stores had been scammed by people using national ID cards with altered numbers, the Ministry of the Interior said on Monday. This type of fraud is usually carried out when scammers purchase a product, mostly smartphones, with installment plans using fake ID numbers, it said. Using the new function, businesses can verify a customer’s ID number before making a transaction, the ministry said. Using an altered national ID breaches the Household Registration Act (戶籍法) and offenders could face a jail term of up to five years and/or a fine of up to NT$500,000, it said.
DIPLOMACY
Belizean minister arrives
Belizean Minister of National Security John Saldivar on Monday arrived for a five-day visit to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Saldivar, who is making his second trip to Taiwan as Belize’s national security chief, is to meet with National Security Council Secretary-General David Lee (李大維), Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Tsao (曹立傑). He is also to visit the Ocean Affairs Council, the Coast Guard Administration, National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, and a number of military facilities, as well as local shipbuilders, to gain a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s developments in the respective fields, the ministry said. Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) recently concluded a trip to Belize to mark the anniversary.
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 US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative.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
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
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner