Ticket prices for public transportation would remain unchanged for now, despite rising fuel prices, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, as the government seeks to stabilize consumer prices.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications would ensure that the high-speed railway, Taiwan Railway Corp (台鐵), MRT and public bus services would not increase their fares, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) told a news conference after a weekly Cabinet meeting.
The adjustment of domestic flight fares would be postponed as well, Cheng said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has been presiding over a meeting every Monday on livelihood stability measures since the US and Israel launched a war on Iran, with Cabinet officials at the meetings providing updates on developments in the war and proposing response measures.
Cheng on Wednesdays convenes an ad hoc task force to monitor consumer prices, the Ministry of Economic Affairs holds daily meetings to respond to changes in fuel prices and the Ministry of Justice frequently holds interagency joint price inspection task force meetings.
CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) on Fridays briefs Cho on the latest oil prices before announcing any changes to prices in Taiwan to the public on Saturdays.
Cheng said that the government’s response measures are in seven categories.
First, the government would protect the safety of Taiwanese at home and overseas, she said, adding that as of yesterday, 5,289 Taiwanese had returned home from the Middle East since the war began.
Second, the government has kept oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) inventory levels above regulatory standards, she said.
“Natural gas shipments for this month and next month have been fully scheduled,” Cheng said. “For LNG supply in June, 15 shipments are required, of which 10 have been procured.”
For July and August, sources of LNG outside the Middle East would be increased, she said.
Third, to stabilize consumer prices, the government has been monitoring prices of food items from 38 brands, including Taiwanese omelets, hamburgers, fried chicken, potstickers, beef noodle soup, boxed lunches with chicken drumsticks, boxed lunches with pork chops, braised pork with rice, hot pot with pork, chicken soup, ramen with pork bone soup, Americano coffee, black tea, stinky tofu and buffets, she said.
Three food brands have raised their prices since the war began, she added.
Fourth, the government would implement four mechanisms to ensure supply chain stability: increasing production at petrochemical factories; prioritizing supply to domestic manufacturers; pursuing increased production and allocation among midstream and downstream firms; and strictly cracking down on hoarding and price gouging, Cheng said.
“We would also ensure smooth imports of light oil and increased production of ethylene from CPC Corp, Taiwan to maintain plastic supplies,” she said.
The state-run petrochemical firm is to ramp up ethylene production to 79,000 tonnes this month and 90,000 tonnes next month, she said.
Fifth, aside from the Joint Price Inspection Task Force, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office has also launched a platform to investigate livelihood-related crimes, she said, adding that the Fair Trade Commission is investigating pricing and supplies of plastic bags.
Sixth, the government is monitoring how the war is affecting stock and foreign exchange markets, Cheng said.
“Taiwan’s stock market decline is moderate compared with major Asian countries, with the fundamentals remaining sound,” she said.
Seventh, officials at the central and local governments are coordinating on industrial supply chain adjustments and monitoring price fluctuations, with Executive Yuan Secretary-General Xavier Chang (張惇涵) serving as liaison, Cheng said.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
RSS