■SOCIETY
Legislature amends debt law
The legislature yesterday passed an amendment to the Civil Law (民法) to protect people who guarantee a second party’s debt from being asked by creditors to repay the debt before bailiffs have seized and sold the property of the original debtor. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) proposed the amendment because an article in the law, referred to as “the counterplea right of guarantor,” which allows guarantors to avoid assuming the obligation, was ineffective. In practice, people are required to waive their rights on mortgages or car loans. Article 746 of the law entitled creditors to ask guarantors to answer for the defaults of debtors whose whereabouts are unknown, depriving guarantors of the right to counterplea. Striking the article from the law would better protect the rights of guarantors, Lai said. The legislature passed a supplementary resolution attached to the law that demanded that the Financial Supervisory Commission revise measures governing standardized contracts for certain commodities within six months to prohibit the waiver of the right to counterplea.
■POLITICS
Court upholds Chen ruling
The Supreme Count on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling made last month that former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) should remain in detention until at least June 23. The High Court ruled on April 16 that the former president should remain incarcerated at the Taipei Detention Center for another two months on the grounds that Chen and his family have not remitted the large sums of money they hold in foreign bank accounts and that Chen might seek to flee the country should he be released. Chen appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court. The former president was first detained on Nov. 12, 2008, after being charged with corruption and money laundering. He was released a month later following his indictment. He was detained again on Dec. 30, 2008, by the Taipei District Court following a request by prosecutors, and has not been released. The High Court panel took charge of Chen’s case on Sept. 24 after he appealed a life sentence.
■JUSTICE
Chief gets 203 years
A township chief was sentenced to 203 years in prison on 20 counts of graft involving government construction projects, a court official said yesterday. Yu Wei-hsiang (余維祥) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), a chief of Tainan County’s Sigang Township (西港), was convicted on Thursday of taking NT$790,000 (US$25,000) in bribes from contractors, a spokesman for the Tainan district court said. The spokesman said the lengthy sentence reflected a minimum 10-year jail term for each count of graft and that Yu would have to serve at least 25 years in prison.
■SOCIETY
Vendor wants normal life
Taiwanese vegetable vendor Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊), who was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world this year by Time magazine for her charitable donations, said on Thursday in San Francisco that she would continue to lead a simple life despite the accolades. Chen arrived in San Francisco earlier that day from New York, where she attended a citation dinner hosted by Time magazine on Tuesday. “I will continue to be myself and I am pleased to learn that some people have been inspired by me and have started doing charity work as well,” she said. “What I want to do now is return to my normal life and concentrate on my business as a vegetable vendor.”
The US House of Representatives yesterday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which stipulates that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican US Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude China from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China
Garbage and recycling schedules are to vary from Saturday through Sunday next week over the Lunar New Year holiday period. The following collection information is from the governments of the six special municipalities. Taipei Regular service: Sunday to Monday next week. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Extra service: Friday next week. Regular service resumes: Saturday next week. New Taipei City Extra service: Sunday. Adjusted collection time: Monday next week — garbage collection is to begin in the morning and end at 6pm. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Regular service resumes: Friday next week. Note: Garbage can be dropped off at 70
A KFC branch in Kaohsiung may be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million (US$1,907 and US$6.37 million), after a customer yesterday found an entire AAA battery inside an egg tart, the Kaohsiung Department of Health said today. The customer was about to microwave a box of egg tarts they had bought at the fast-food restaurant’s Nanzih (楠梓) branch when they checked the bottom and saw a dark shadow inside one of them, they said in a Threads post. The customer filmed themself taking the egg tart apart to reveal an entire AAA battery inside, which apparently showed signs of damage. Surveillance footage showed
GROUP EFFORT: The number of inbound travelers rose 11 to 12 percent last month, with a significant increase in tourists from Europe and North America, an official said The government aims to attract 9.4 million visitors this year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday, citing last year’s success in diversifying tourist markets. Taiwan last year drew about 8.57 million international arrivals, 72.3 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels. By contrast, the nation had about 18.94 million outbound tourists last year, surpassing the pre-COVID-19 level of 17.1 million. The estimated tourism revenue deficit was about NT$700.9 billion (US$22.22 billion). Taoyuan International Airport Corp expects more than 160,000 passengers to pass through the nation’s largest airport daily during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Saturday. As of Jan. 30, the nation’s average hotel occupancy rate
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