■ 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.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
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