Brown Line riders can check how crowded cars are

Passengers of Taipei MRT System’s Wenhu Line (Brown Line) can check how crowded the carriages are using the Taipei MRT app, as well as displays in the stations, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The company has made the service available on the busiest MRT Line after testing it for one year on the Bannan Line (Blue Line). It is also offering it at a time when the nation has seen a rise in local COVID-19 cases. A survey conducted by TRTC in 2016 identified the 10 most crowded sections of MRT lines during peak hours, nine of which were on the Brown Line. The most busy section on the list was between Zhongxiao Fuxing and Nanjing Fuxing stations. From 8am to 9am, an average of 4.07 people stood within 1m2 on trains from Zhongxiao Fuxing to Nanjing Fuxing, the survey showed. Between 6pm and 7pm, trains from Nanjing Fuxing to Zhongxiao Fuxing stations had an average of 3.96 people standing in 1m2, the survey showed. The company said that its self-developed alert system uses four levels to indicate how crowded carriages are: green means passengers can move inside carriages without any trouble; yellow means passengers can move easily inside carriages; orange means carriages are slightly crowded and passengers need to turn sideways to pass each other; and red means carriages are very crowded and it is difficult for passengers to move around. By next year, the service would also be available for passengers on Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line), Songshan-Xindian Line (Green Line) and the Zhonghe-Xinlu Line (Orange Line), TRTC said. In other news, people at Zhongxiao Fuxing Station can now wait for a train at “Metro Corner,” where they can watch updates of MRT services, weather reports and breaking news, the company said. The corner also has an automatic coffee machine and a vending machine,

By Shelley Shan

Woman killed in alleged DUI crash

‘KILLER BOMBS’: Witnesses said that a man who allegedly hit the elderly woman drove to a store, and purchased and drank beer in an apparent bid to beat charges

Journalist Huang Wei-han’s (黃暐瀚) mother was killed in an alleged driving under the influence (DUI) incident, with a 30-year-old man in custody, Taichung police said yesterday after witnesses told officers that the suspect had driven to a store immediately after the crash, where he purchased and drank beer. Police said that the man, surnamed Fang (方), had submitted to a breath-alcohol test, which showed a reading of 0.4 milligrams per liter (mg/L), exceeding the 0.15mg/L maximum. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), was hit while crossing a street at an intersection in Taichung City at about 3am yesterday morning, police said. A black Mercedes sedan hit her and she was dragged for about 70m, a police report said. Chen, who was in her 70s, was rushed to a hospital, but died shortly afterward from trauma, internal injuries and loss of blood, the report said. Witnesses told police that the vehicle drove on after the crash to a convenience store, where police detained the driver, who was drinking beer, the report said. Fang, a hairdresser, told officers that he had not been drinking prior to the crash, it said. Witnesses said that Fang bought the beer to drink in a bid to evade a drunk driving charge by claiming that the alcohol test result was due to his drinking after the incident. One witness said that Fang bought four cans of beer and had finished three by the time police arrived. A plastic bottle containing an unknown liquid was found in a search of the vehicle, police said. A preliminary test indicated that the bottle might have contained illegal drugs, they said. Fang denied having taken drugs, investigators said. A urine sample was sent to a laboratory to be tested, which would take about three weeks, they said. Police said that preliminary investigations indicated that Fang had been with friends at a KTV parlor until

By Jason Pan

CNA video service plan approved

ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PLATFORM: CNA said that the video platform would boost the nation’s international visibility through politics, business, history and culture

A proposal by the Central News Agency (CNA) to run a global video-streaming platform aimed at allowing the nation’s voice to be heard in the international community has been approved, the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. CNA had been tasked with executing the pilot phase of the project and was invited to submit a proposal for how the platform would be run in a limited tender, after a proposal by the Public Television Service failed to pass a review earlier this year, the ministry said in a statement. CNA’s proposal was passed in a 6-1 vote at a meeting of the review committee on Tuesday, the ministry said. The committee believes that the plan proposed by CNA meets the basic needs of the platform, including having a dedicated organization, and dedicated spaces for administrative and production purposes, as well as a dedicated fund, the ministry said. CNA also plans to integrate resources from public and private media firms in its production of different types of content, “in the spirit of a national team,” the ministry said. Despite the approval of CNA’s proposal, members of the review committee still had recommendations for the platform, the ministry said, adding that it would discuss those recommendations with CNA as soon as possible. The platform is to be run by an independent team that would be given professional autonomy, CNA said yesterday following the announcement of the decision. The video platform would be the first of its type in Taiwan to be conducted fully in English, CNA said, adding that it would strive to increase the nation’s international visibility. Through topics from politics, business and technology, to history, culture, food, travel and the environment, the platform would seek to present the freedom, openness and diversity of Taiwanese society, it said. It would also strive to increase international understanding and trust in the nation,

By Sherry Hsiao

KMT sets election date for chairperson, delegates

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) elections for its chairperson and delegates of its National Congress are to be held on July 24, the party announced yesterday. Those seeking to contest the elections must pick up registration forms on June 3 or 4 and submit them on June 7 or 8, the KMT said in a statement. Vote counting would begin the same day as the elections, it said, adding that a list of the elected candidates would be announced by July 27. The dates were announced after the KMT’s Central Standing Committee approved them at a meeting in Taipei. The committee also approved a requirement that candidates for KMT chairperson pay a registration fee of NT$200,000 (US$7,153) when they pick up their registration forms, and a NT$3 million processing fee and NT$10 million deposit when they register, the KMT said. The deposit would be credited to the winning candidate’s annual fundraising obligations as chairperson and returned to unsuccessful candidates, the party said. To encourage the participation of young people, the committee approved a rule allowing the chairperson to select up to 30 student delegates to join the 1,550-seat National Congress, the KMT said. “Party elections are not a head-to-head battle, much less a zero-sum game,” KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said at the beginning of the committee meeting, before it was closed to reporters. Rather, they are an exercise of democracy that decide how work is to be assigned in the party for the following few years, said Chiang, who is seeking re-election. “We hope that the KMT, united under a fair system, can win back the confidence of a majority of Taiwanese and gain more opportunities to serve the nation, regardless of who is leading it,” he said. Referendums to be held on Aug. 28 are “not only the party’s most important political task this year, but also a

By Sherry Hsiao

Ministry condemns violence after alleged NY attack

All forms of violence and racial prejudice are to be condemned, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday following media reports that a Taiwanese woman was attacked for wearing a mask in New York City. The woman, identified as Theresa, 31, was attacked by a woman while walking with a friend in midtown Manhattan at about 8:45pm on Sunday, the Daily Mail US online reported on Tuesday, alongside a surveillance camera video clip that the New York Police Department released. The assailant demanded that Theresa remove her mask and struck her in the head with a hammer, leaving a gash on her forehead, the report said. Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, as the city has seen increasing assaults on Asians since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Daily Mail US reported. Theresa moved to New York in 2019 to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York’s WABC reported. After talking to her parents, Theresa said she would return to Taiwan and go back to New York when it is safe, the WABC report said. At a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) asked Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel if they knew about the incident. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York has gathered information about the incident, although the student did not contact the office for help, Department of North American Affairs Deputy Director-General Regine Chen (陳慧蓁) said. “The ministry should express its stance on the matter,” Wang said, asking why it had said nothing. “No matter how good ties with Washington are, we hope that the US government is able to protect our students and expatriates there,” Wang said, adding that the ministry should issue a public statement on its stance. New York police did

By Lin Chia-nan

Official appears to reject calls for US to declare stance

A US official on Tuesday appeared to reject calls for Washington to make a clear statement of its willingness to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, saying there were “significant downsides” to such an approach. US National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell told a discussion hosted by the Financial Times that it was appropriate to be concerned about the Taiwan situation. However, Campbell said he believed there was appreciation in the US and China that maintenance of some degree of “status quo” was in the best interests of Washington and Beijing. “I believe that there are some significant downsides to the kind of what is called strategic clarity that you lay out,” Campbell said when asked about calls from some US academics and others for Washington to give Taipei a more explicit security guarantee. Campbell said that any conflict between the US and China over Taiwan would not likely be contained to a small area. “I think it would broaden quickly and it would fundamentally trash the global economy in ways that I don’t think anyone can predict,” he said. There was some concern that China assessed it “got away scot-free” after its crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and “could draw the wrong conclusions from that” when it came to its actions toward Taiwan, Campbell said. The best way to maintain peace and stability was to send a consolidated message to China that combined diplomacy and US defense innovation, Campbell said. He expected in the next couple of months to see “practical diplomatic engagement” with China on North Korea and other issues of the kind engaged in by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley. The real short and medium-term risks were from “accidents and inadvertence,” given the proximity of US and Chinese

Bunun hunter waits for ruling on firearms

Before heading into the mountains with his homemade rifle, Bunun hunter Tama Talum often chants prayers and makes offerings of rice wine and betel nut to the spirits. Talum, 62, was one of the hundreds from his people taking part last week in Mala Hodaigian, an annual festival that honors hunters and wild game. However, a shadow hung over this year’s festivities because of a court ruling set for tomorrow. At stake is Talum’s freedom — and whether the hunting limitations placed on Aboriginal communities are discriminatory and unconstitutional. “For Aborigines, hunting is about survival and it’s our culture,” he told reporters from his bucolic home in Taitung County, where the retired tow-truck driver now grows vegetables and looks after his 99-year-old mother. Talum’s legal turmoil started eight years ago when he went to hunt food for his mother, who he said was used to eating wild game. He was arrested for killing a Reeves’ muntjac and a Formosan serow with a modified rifle, and charged with possessing an illegal weapon and hunting protected species. He was sentenced to three-and- a-half years in prison. The prosecution sparked anger among Aboriginal communities, who have begun to push back at the modern legal restrictions that have chipped away at their traditions. As Dahu, a 42-year-old hunter and friend of Talum’s, said: “The court should recognize hunting is our culture and it’s not a crime.” Under current legislation, Aboriginal hunters are only allowed to use homemade guns — which they say are dangerous and have caused injuries — and hunt on festival days with prior approval. Talum’s prosecution wound its way to the Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction and jail term. However, judges also made the unusual move of asking the Council of Grand Justices to step in and assess whether current regulations breach the rights of Aborigines. Rights advocates hope that a ruling in

By Amber Wang

Experts encourage handwashing

BENEFITS: A CECC official said that masks, handwashing and social distancing have reduced flu, enterovirus infections and diarrhea-related illnesses over the past year

Infectious-disease specialists yesterday urged people to wash their hands thoroughly and frequently to prevent infectious diseases, as there is an increased risk of community spread of COVID-19 after cases linked to China Airlines personnel and people quarantined at the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel. To mark World Hand Hygiene Day today, National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital held a news conference to raise awareness about the importance of hand hygiene, saying that it can prevent infectious disease, including COVID-19. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said that the infections linked to the airline and the hotel have increased the risk that the virus will spread locally. “People should wear a mask, wash their hands thoroughly and get vaccinated to build a line of defense,” Chen said, adding that these measures can effectively protect society. NTU vice president and CECC specialist advisory panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said that masks, handwashing and social distancing over the past year have significantly reduced seasonal flu, enterovirus infections and even diarrhea-related illnesses. NTU Children’s Hospital dean Huang Li-min (黃立民), who is also honorary chairman of the Infectious Disease Society of Taiwan, said that the COVID-19 cases linked to the airline and the hotel pose a greater risk to local communities than did an outbreak at Taoyuan General Hospital in January. Confirmed cases so far include airline crew members and hotel employees, and their family members, which can be considered the first degree of local transmission, Huang said. The second stage would be confirmed if cases are found among people who are not close contacts of previous cases, he said, adding that preventing a local outbreak is crucial. The cases linked to the Taoyuan General Hospital cluster infection were detected relatively early compared with the airline and hotel situation, with pilots who have

By Lee I-chia

KMT urges more vaccination incentives

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday urged the government to increase incentives for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Alicia Wang (王育敏) told a news conference in Taipei that China, Israel, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US have higher COVID-19 vaccination rates than Taiwan. While the global average of the number of vaccine doses administered per 100 people was 14.2, it is only 0.3 per 100 people in Taiwan, Wang said, citing foreign media reports. “We are far behind” in vaccination efforts, she said. She asked how many COVID-19 vaccine deliveries the nation could expect to receive this month after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) had previously said that Moderna vaccines might arrive this month. The CECC has not provided a timetable for a vaccination program, including when vaccines are to arrive and when they would be administered, Wang said, adding that the lack of information was not helping the nation’s fight against the virus. The CECC should propose a better plan for increasing the vaccination rate, she said. The Ministry of Labor is to announce an unpaid vaccination leave policy, but given the low vaccination rate, the CECC should consider offering additional incentives, she said. The infections involving China Airlines and Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel personnel shows that a review of the CECC’s measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is warranted, Wang said. The infections show that pilots have not been given adequate protection against infection while abroad, and central and local governments have failed to properly manage the quarantine hotel, she said. The CECC must reinforce its measures aimed at protecting flight crew, she said. The CECC has not made the best use of the resources it has, including domestically produced rapid test kits, to let people know if they have been infected, Taiwan

By Sherry Hsiao

FDA warns that cough medicine can cause organ failure

CHILDREN AT RISK: The agency said that overuse can lead to fulminant hepatitis and cough syrup should be kept out of the reach of children

Overuse of cough medicine can cause acute liver or kidney failure, especially in children, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said. Acetaminophen, the active component in many cough medicines that is also known as paracetamol, is a fever-reducing analgesic that is widely used in syrups, powders and pills, the FDA wrote on Facebook on Monday last week. While acetaminophen is used to ease sore throats and headaches, and to break fevers, excessive quantities can damage cells in internal organs, especially the liver, it said. Severe acetaminophen poisoning can lead to fulminant hepatitis or acute renal failure, which are life-threatening conditions, it said. For adults, the recommended dosage of acetaminophen is 4,000mg, while most cough syrups have acetaminophen concentrations of 10mg to 15mg per milliliter (mg/mL), the agency added. This means that adults should take cough syrup no more than four times per day, with each dose 8mL to 10mL, while children should be given smaller doses, it said. Cough syrup should be kept out of the reach of children, as they might mistake it for a beverage and consume too much, the FDA said. A doctor should be consulted if a child under 12 has symptoms of a cold, it said. While otherwise healthy adults can self-medicate with cough syrup, people with persistent cold symptoms should visit a healthcare expert, the FDA added.

By Jonathan Chin

Police vow arrests after Taipei cockroach incident

A debt dispute between a restaurant owner and a criminal ring might be behind a bizarre cockroach attack at the Taipei eatery on Monday night while it was hosting a police gathering, Taipei Police Commissioner Chen Jia-chang (陳嘉昌) said yesterday. Preliminary findings of a police investigation into the case at the G House Taipei suggest that the unusual incident might have been directed at the restaurant’s owner, who allegedly owes money to the Bamboo Union, Chen said. The suspects were Bamboo Union members and there was no evidence indicating that the cockroaches were targeted at the police officers at the restaurant, he said. He pledged to quickly arrest those involved and present details of the case. Chen condemned the behavior and called it an act of violence, similar to attacking people with excrement or paint. Those convicted would be dealt with in accordance with law, he said. Zhongshan Deputy Chief Yu Yung-lien (余永廉) said that at 7:24pm on Monday, two men in black entered the restaurant and tossed what was estimated to be more than 1,000 small roaches — a type fed to fish — into the air near a counter on the second floor. Additional police officers arrived three minutes after receiving a report, by which time the two men had fled on a scooter, Yu said. Footage from surveillance cameras allowed police to identify five suspects, four men and a woman, he said. Two of them dumped the roaches in the restaurant, two were lookouts and one was a driver, he said. They left in different directions and vehicles to evade possible pursuers, but they would be caught, Yu said. A police task force said that the incident was unlikely to be related to Chen’s presence or the police gathering, which was attended by more than 700 people, because Chen arrived after the roaches had been released. The incident might

NPP urges reform of police nationwide

UNRESOLVED ISSUES: Officers are more likely to enforce laws unfairly if it is related to how their performance would be evaluated, a Taiwan Police Union member said

The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday called for reform of the police following a series of incidents which the party said showed a lack of discipline and proper training in police departments nationwide. On April 16, 10 men invaded Taipei’s Zhonglun Police Station and damaged property, but none were held accountable and accusations of malpractice at the station arose after it was revealed that surveillance footage of the incident had been deleted. On April 23, an officer at Taoyuan’s Jhungli Police Station handcuffed and detained a music teacher for nine hours after she refused to identify herself and described her detention as “stupid.” Chao Chieh-yu (趙介佑), who was expelled from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Saturday for alleged involvement in drug trafficking, racketeering, assault and kidnapping related to organized crime groups, was reported to have in 2018 used his connections to meet with a friend who was being held in the cells at Taipei Police Department’s Beitou Precinct. The officer at Jhungli Police Station cited Article 6 of the Police Power Exercise Act (警察職權行使法) to justify his actions, which authorizes officers to verify the identity of people in “designated public places, roads and checkpoints,” NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said. However, the same article also states that a verification of identity should be made “only when considered necessary to prevent crimes or deal with events that may affect major public safety or social order,” he said. “In other words, the police are allowed by law to ask people in ‘crime hotspots’ to identify themselves. However, there are no specific standards that constitute ‘crime hotspots,’” Chiu said. To avoid disputes, the National Police Agency should conduct an analysis of cases where people refuse to subject themselves to inspection, which would help it to stipulate specific guidelines governing police inspections in designated places and train police officers

By Shelley Shan

Most people don’t believe in credibility of judiciary: poll

More than half of Taiwanese say they do not believe in the credibility of the judiciary, a survey released yesterday by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-affiliated National Policy Foundation showed. The survey found that 52.5 percent of respondents did not trust the credibility of the judicial system, compared with 34.2 percent who did. It found that 57.6 percent did not believe that judges would try cases fairly, while 31.8 percent said they believed that they would. Asked if they believed that “the Council of Grand Justices has not been subjected to improper interference, and interpret the Constitution objectively and fairly,” 52.6 percent said that they did not, while 29.7 percent said that they did, the foundation said. Asked whether they understood President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) ideas and proposals on judicial reform, 83.8 percent said that they did not and 12.8 percent said that they did, the survey showed. Asked whether they had confidence in the effectiveness of Tsai’s efforts to promote judicial reform, 46.8 percent said that they did not, while 43 percent said that they did, it showed. The public’s lack of understanding of the president’s ideas and proposals for judicial reform should serve as a “major warning,” Chinese Culture University law professor Wu Yen-te (吳盈德) said at a news conference in Taipei. Given that nearly half of the respondents in the survey were not confident in the reform of the judicial system, it appears that Tsai needs to work harder, he said. Improving public confidence in the credibility of the judiciary should be seen as as a major task for the remainder of Tsai’s term in office, he added. When Tsai was sworn in as president in 2016, she vowed to promote judicial reform and later held a national conference on judicial reform, with an aim of winning back public confidence in the judiciary, foundation internal and

By Sherry Hsiao

TRA facing NT$2.5m fine after delaying incident notification

The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) could face a fine of NT$2.5 million (US$89,439) for delayed notifications to the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board about incidents on its network, the board’s chairman said. Article 9 of the Transportation Occurrences Investigation Act (運輸事故調查法) requires the TRA to notify the board within two hours of receipt of information about railway incidents. Failure to report such information within two hours could result in a fine of NT$500,000 to NT$2.5 million. However, the TRA does not always report incidents on time, board chairman Young Hong-tsu (楊宏智) said, adding that the last time the railway agency failed to report such information before the deadline was on April 11, when a fire broke out on a northbound Tzuchiang Express train after it stopped at Jhungli Railway Station in Taoyuan. “The TRA delayed reports about railway incidents, but we gave them a grace period after the board was established in August 2019,” Young said. “The grace period should be over by now, so the TRA should be more careful when submitting reports to the board.” The TRA said that the fire on April 11 occurred at 6:09pm and that it notified the board at 6:39pm, but admitted that it did fail to report a fire within the two-hour deadline last year, adding that it would endeavor to clarify the situation with the board. Although the TRA denied delaying informing the board about the fire on the Tzuchiang Express train, Young said that his assertion is backed by solid evidence. The board is to hold a meeting next week to review the TRA’s record on notifications of incidents, Young said, adding that it would be the first such meeting since its establishment.

By Shelley Shan

President Tsai awarded prize after controversy

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday was awarded last year’s John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service in recognition of her leadership in defending Taiwan’s democracy and standing up against Chinese aggression. The Washington-based Halifax International Security Forum, which announced its decision in a video posted online, said that Tsai was “arguably the most powerful female politician in the Chinese-speaking world” and had helped Taiwan stand up against Beijing’s military coercion and international isolation. The video also said that under her tenure, Taiwan was the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage, and it also paid tribute to the nation’s success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service, named after late US senator John McCain, is awarded by the forum to individuals from any nation who have demonstrated “uncommon leadership in the pursuit of human justice.” The 2019 prize was awarded to the people of Hong Kong, where democracy advocates organized protests following plans to pave the way for extraditions to mainland China. Tsai was awarded the prize despite reports that the Canadian government had warned the organizers that it would pull its funding, apparently due to concerns about angering Beijing. The forum receives half its funding from the Canadian Department of National Defence. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later denied that the government had issued any such warning, adding that the forum was free to make its own decision and promising that his administration would continue to help fund the non-governmental organization. The Canadian House of Commons also adopted a unanimous motion saying that Tsai was an ideal candidate for the prize. In Taipei, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said in a statement that Tsai was honored to receive the prize, and that it represented the achievements of the whole nation and not her alone. The nation’s success in

TECO ranked in top 5% in governance evaluation for 7th straight year

TECO Electric & Machinery Co., Ltd. has been ranked in the top 5% in the TCGA corporate governance evaluation for the seventh straight year, an honor attained by only 10 TWSE-listed companies, which underscores the remarkable performance and trustworthiness of the company’s board of directors, according to chairperson Sophia Chiu. In order to uphold this honor, the secretariat of the board of directors formulates evaluation reports based on the results of a self-evaluation questionnaire survey as reference for the board of directors to guide continuous improvement. The company has entrusted the Taiwan Corporate Governance Association (TCGA) with evaluating the performance of its board of directors. In its 2021 evaluation report, the TCGA points out that “The company’s managing directors meet once every two months to review and discuss its major business plans and proposals, in order to reach a consensus before sending them to the board of directors for resolution, raising the latter’s meeting efficiency significantly.” The TCGA also affirmed the company’s setup of an “R&D innovation committee,” comprising outside experts and scholars, to keep track of emerging technologies on the market and consider the company’s product-development direction systematically, with a view to formulating short-, mid-, and long-term product roadmaps that promote the company’s competitiveness. CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE In addition to constant improvement governed by the law and all relevant regulations, the company is working, with reference to the suggestions of the Taiwan Corporate Governance Association, to modify the criteria for judging the results of its self-evaluation questionnaire, formulate a manual setting the code of ethical practice for directors, and evaluate the performance of the in-house auditing chief, with reference to the opinions of independent directors, thereby strengthening the functioning of the auditing committee. In addition, the company’s corporate governance center, founded in 2015, has set the company’s corporate governance targets and coordinated

Lawmakers ratify legal assistance treaty with Belize

COLLABORATION: The pact would enable the two nations to combat transnational crime more efficiently and effectively, a deputy minister said

The legislature yesterday ratified the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters with the government of Belize, which allows the two nations to cooperate on crime prevention and prosecution. In a joint meeting in Taipei, the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee and the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee unanimously agreed to adopt the bilateral accord, without going to cross-caucus negotiations. The treaty comprises 22 articles under which the two nations are able assist each other in the areas of crime prevention, criminal investigation, prosecution and court procedures. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光), who attended the meeting, said the treaty would serve as a legal framework for more effective collaboration between Taiwan and Belize, a diplomatic ally, to combat transnational crime. Deputy Minister of Justice Tsai Pi-chung (蔡碧仲) said that the treaty encompasses legal procedures such as obtaining testimony and statements, freezing or forfeiting assets, and conducting searches. Under the treaty, statements can be given by the relevant parties via videoconference, he said. The treaty would enable the authorities in Taiwan and Belize to work as a team to combat transnational crime more efficiently and effectively, Tsai said. The treaty was signed in September last year by Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) and Belizean Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington. It is the nation’s seventh mutual legal assistance treaty, following similar agreements with the US, China, South Africa, Poland, Nauru and the Philippines.