Minister of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday ruled at a ministerial meeting that speed detectors must be accompanied by a signed affidavit that they contain no Chinese-made parts.
The ruling came a few days after a user named “Leo” wrote on Facebook that Eastern Science and Technology Co (東山科技), a local manufacturer who supplies speed measurement systems to the Directorate-General of Highways (DGH), uses components made in Hangzhou, China, and then places its label on the devices.
“Leo” said that speed measurement systems are a “massive surveillance program,” as the systems identify drivers’ license plate numbers and calculate their average speed between two points so that law enforcement can determine whether vehicles are speeding.
Photo: Tung chen-kuo, Taipei Times
Ministry officials who attended the meeting quoted Lin as saying that the government’s crackdown on traffic violations would affect people’s rights, and that the information security of speed detectors should not be compromised.
While the use of speed measurement systems helps to curb speeding, it has not been proven whether they effectively reduce traffic accidents, Lin said, adding that more reasonable speed limits should be set for certain sections of road.
Manufacturers should immediately sign affidavits that the main components used to build their speed detectors are not made in China, and cannot be exploited to improperly collect or transmit drivers’ data, Lin told the officials.
Firms would need to furnish customs declarations, merchandise certificates and specification sheets for their detectors, Lin said.
Speed detectors that are made in China would be immediately removed, Lin added.
Some manufacturers might say that their products are locally made to evade US tariffs imposed on Chinese products or other restrictions, so a group would be formed to inspect within two months — independently verifying and validating — the speed detectors used by the DGH, Lin said.
The group would include representatives from the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection; the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院); the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology; and the Taiwan Association of Information and Communication Standards, he said.
The use of speed measurement systems should be suspended until the inspections are completed, Lin said, adding that local government officials are encouraged to work with the ministry if they have speed detectors that should be inspected.
The ministry would no longer subsidize local governments’ detector purchases, as the National Police Agency and local police departments should budget for them, he said.
The ministry said that it would work with the Ministry of the Interior and local officials to relocate detectors to high-risk accident zones.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique