■LABOR
Unpaid leave figures drop
The number of workers on unpaid leave still exceeds 17,000, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) said. The latest figures released by the council show that, as of yesterday, 17,697 workers were on unpaid leave at 254 companies, down from 19,948 workers on unpaid leave at 336 companies at the end of last month. The number of people on unpaid leave has continued to drop since peaking at 238,975 in March. However, the council said the numbers have been dropping in smaller increments, from significant five-digit monthly decreases in the middle of the year to only a few thousand in recent months. Some labor groups have accused the council of looking only at the numbers that companies have chosen to report themselves. The groups said this could distort the unemployment picture. In order to increase the number of job openings, the council is planning to launch another stimulus program, which it predicted would create about 15,000 public sector jobs. The openings will be prioritized for those who are involuntarily unemployed or belong to disadvantaged groups.
■DIPLOMACY
Fishermen not released
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denied a news report that a group of fishermen who were detained by Myanmar late last month have been released. According to the Chinese-language United Daily News, a businessman in Thailand said Beijing had played a major role in getting the men home. Ministry Deputy Spokesman James Chang (章計平) rejected the report and said that information gathered by Taiwan’s representative office in Bangkok showed that all four Taiwanese nationals who were captured for allegedly trespassing in Myanmar’s waters were still in captivity and waiting for the judicial process to take its course.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
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