Prosecutors yesterday continued to crack down on face-mask abuses yesterday, uncovering a number of dealers selling their products at an inflated price.
Taipei Prosecutor Huang Jiou-chen (
"We received complaints from the public that this pharmacy was trying to collect N95 respirators before selling them at inflated prices," Huang said.
However, Huang said that the owner of the pharmacy claimed he had done nothing wrong and that the masks were imported three days ago. The owner also said that he is due to receive a further batch of 17,000 masks today, according to Huang.
Huang said that prosecutors will investigate the owner's claims but refused to give the name or address of the pharmacy.
In Kaohsiung, police officers discovered a pharmacy and two computer hardware stores selling masks at an inflated price in Kaohsiung's Nantzu and Sanmin Districts and confiscated a total of 2,897 N95 respirators.
Police said that the pharmacy was selling the masks for NT$120 each while the computer stores were asking for NT$150. The invoice price of the N95 mask is around NT$55.
Police said that all three cases had been handed over to the Fair Trade Commission.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance's Kaohsiung Customs Bureau stopped a total of 64,000 N95 face masks from being exported to Japan.
All masks were later returned to manufacturer San-fang Co.
Because of an increase in demand, the ministry has banned the export of face masks since May 14.
Prosecutors in Taitung are investigating Fubaolian Pharmacy for increasing the price of face masks, adding that the pharmacy's owner Fu Yi-hsi (
Prosecutor Huang Ju-hui (
Huang said that Fu lowered the price to NT$50 when investigators visited him at his pharmacy yesterday.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against