■ EDUCATION
English tests to be offered
The US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) will begin offering English writing and speaking tests next month for enterprises in Taiwan in a drive to improve English skills, the Taiwan representative of the ETS Taiwan branch said yesterday. Wang Hsing-wei (王星威) held a press conference in Taipei to announce the new tests, which are part of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) targeting working people, alongside tests in listening and reading. The new TOEIC tests will be available for group applicants in January and for individual applicants in August, with the examinees required to take the tests on a computer, according to the ETC office.
■ GOVERNMENT
Taipei takes over pools
The Taipei City Government took over the management of seven heated swimming pools in the city yesterday after a private company contracted to run the facilities shut them down a day earlier due to financial difficulties. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) told reporters that the city government will safeguard the interests of Taipei residents and their right to use the facilities, based on provisions of the contracts between the city government and Eden Athletics. Hau said he has asked the Parks and Street Lights Office of the city government's Public Works Bureau to seek legal counsel to resolve the dispute. Eden Athletics was awarded contracts to run 14 swimming pools owned by the city government, including seven heated pools which remain open in winter. The company has run into financial difficulties recently and owes NT$20 million (US$617,650) in royalties to the Taipei City Government.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
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