■ Traffic policing
Nearly 500 drivers fined
More than 470 drivers were fined for traffic violations in a single county yesterday on the first day of a police crackdown on dangerous and reckless driving behavior. Figures disclosed by Hualien County police show that as of 4pm yesterday, they had handled 472 serious traffic violations. A spokesman for the Hualien County Police Bureau noted that in 400 cases -- or 85 percent of these violations -- drivers ran red lights, in 60 cases drivers were driving while intoxicated and in 12 other cases motorists were fined for excessive speeding. The spokesman said that Hualien County police would follow the instructions of the National Police Agency and act furtively to weed out irresponsible drivers, and that all drivers should abide by traffic regulations to help reduce road fatalities.
■ Administration
COA official recovering
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Agricultural Affairs Lin Kuo-hua (林國華) was listed in stable condition yesterday after an operation to remove blood clots from his brain at a Taichung hospital. According to Lin's family, Lin felt dizzy and nauseous early on Sunday and was rushed to the Yunlin branch of National Taiwan University Hospital, where he fell into a coma. Doctors said Lin had a hemorrhagic stroke and recommended that he be transferred to Taichung Veterans General Hospital. After detecting that the 71-year-old council deputy chairman had blood clots in his brain, a medical team at the Taichung hospital operated on him and removed about 200cc of congealed blood. Lin regained consciousness yesterday and was recovering in an intensive care unit.
■ Finance
Credit co-ops' ODL down
The average overdue loan ratios of the credit departments of the farmers' and fishermen's associations dropped to 8.52 percent as of the end of November, tallies released yesterday by the Bureau of Agricultural Finance showed. The overdue loans of the grassroots associations totaled NT$56 billion as of the end of November, down NT$800 million, or 0.16 percentage points from the previous month's level, bureau officials said. As of the end of November, their assets totaled NT$1.5794 trillion, up NT$5.4 billion from the previous month, with their net worth totaling NT$87.5 billion, up NT$400 million from October, they added. Their outstanding deposits totaled NT$1.364 trillion, up NT$4.8 billion from October, and their outstanding loans totaled NT$656.8 billion, up NT$1.5 billion.
■ Labor
Management pay down
Management personnel in the industrial and service sectors on average made less than NT$50,000 (US$1,525) per month last year, according to the results of a survey released yesterday by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. The agency conducts a job market survey between May and June every year and publish the results at the end of the year. The survey last year showed that employees in the industrial and service sectors on average received NT$26,266 per month at the end of May last year, up slightly from the NT$26,074 recorded in a survey in June 2005. Supervisory staff in the two sectors had the highest average salaries of NT$47,630 per month, followed by professionals at NT$35,899. Monthly salaries for executives in supervisory positions fell below NT$50,000, down NT$2,839 from the NT$50,469 recorded in June 2005.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
Chinese embassy staffers attempted to interrupt an award ceremony of an international tea competition in France when the organizer introduced Taiwan and displayed the Republic of China flag, a Taiwanese tea farmer said in an interview published today. Hsieh Chung-lin (謝忠霖), chief executive of Juxin Tea Factory from Taichung's Lishan (梨山) area, on Dec. 2 attended the Teas of the World International Contest held at the Peruvian embassy in Paris. Hsieh was awarded a special prize for his Huagang Snow Source Tea by the nonprofit Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). During the ceremony, two Chinese embassy staffers in attendance
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