■ SOCIETY
FTC monitoring prices
With the prices of some commodities rising ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday it would monitor the situation to prevent price gouging. The prices of some commodities are higher this year than last year amid a recovering economy and the commission said it has started to collect information on vendors’ costs and import declarations to determine if the higher prices can be justified or if they are being manipulated. FTC Vice Chairwoman Shih Hui-fen (施惠芬) said the commission’s initial investigation showed that dried foods price increases were mostly because of an imbalance in supply and demand, and climate change in areas where the foods are grown or produced. Shih promised, however, to continue the commission’s investigation. Vendors found manipulating prices could be fined up to NT$25 million (US$781,000), the commission warned.
■ LAW
Justices rule on act
The Grand Council of Justices yesterday said confiscating foreign currency in excess of US$10,000 that was not declared at customs does not violate the Constitution. In April 2007, a passenger surnamed Chang (張) who was departing Taiwan was caught carrying ¥40 million (US$446,000) without having declared the money. Customs officials confiscated about ¥38.8 million. The Act Regulating Foreign Exchange (管理外匯條例) states that passengers departing or entering the country who are carrying more than US$10,000 in foreign currency must declare it. Chang and others were unhappy about having their cash confiscated and requested a constitutional interpretation. The justices wrote the act does not violate the Constitution because confiscation of illegal profits or punishment for violation of administrative laws is necessary for the implementation of the laws.
■ ESPIONAGE
Official warns on China trips
A top intelligence official warned retired agents “never to go to China,” because of the risk of arrest or interrogation there, local media reported yesterday. “China still actively uses various channels and methods to collect information from us ... Some of our work partners were questioned, arrested or detained when going to China,” the Chinese-language Apple Daily quoted National Security Bureau Secret Service Center Deputy Director Chang Kan-ping (張堪平) as saying. “To ensure your personal safety, [I] urge you to insist on never going to China,” Chang said in a recent memo to retired agents, the report said. The paper quoted an unnamed official at the military intelligence bureau as saying that Chang was prompted to write the note because “many” former agents were being held in China. The report came as prosecutors were investigating claims that two former military agents, one of whom had gone to live in China, were spying for Beijing.
■ FISHERIES
Three arrested for poaching
Three men aboard a fishing boat from China’s Fujian Province were arrested on Thursday for poaching fish in the waters off Kinmen, Coast Guard Administration officials said. The boat initially ignored demands that it be inspected and sped away, prompting officials to unleash a hail of bullets, video images showed. The poachers attempted to destroy evidence and attempted to ram two patrol boats mobilized by the administration, officials said. The poachers were arrested and 159kg of high-value fish valued at NT$2 million was seized.
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
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.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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