Following a string of baseball game-rigging scandals, the government may make illegal sports betting punishable by as many as 15 years in prison, a lawmaker’s office said yesterday.
A proposal in the legislature calls for a maximum 10-year prison term and a fine of up to NT$10 million (US$320,000 ) for gambling on professional games, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sun Ta-chien’s (孫大千) office said.
The proposal also allows imprisonment for up to 15 years and fines of up to NT$30 million for using violence or blackmail to facilitate gambling, the office said in a statement.
All betting on domestic sports is banned in Taiwan. There is a government-organized sports lottery, but it is exclusively for games abroad, such as Major League Baseball or soccer.
The current regulations allow judges to jail those convicted of operating gambling rings for up to five years, with a maximum fine of NT$1,000.
“This has little effect in thwarting gambling,” the statement said.
The move comes after a series of game-fixing scandals that have tarnished the image of the nation’s professional baseball.
Last year, Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League banned the dMedia T-Rex team on match-fixing allegations implicating three players.
The scandal outraged fans, already jolted by earlier similar cases. A scandal that erupted in 1996 — the worst in the history of Taiwanese sport — led to the disbanding of the China Times Eagles.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
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City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
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