Mon, Sep 06, 2010 page3

• Taiwan News Quick take

  • STAFF WRITER, WITH AGENCIES
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  ■ CRIME

  New child sex laws mulled

  The government is considering tightening its child sex abuse laws following public outrage at three cases where defendants were controversially cleared or given a light jail sentence. In one case involving a three-year-old girl, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by prosecutors, saying they had failed to prove the girl was opposed to the sexual activity. Another case saw a male suspect charged with molesting his two-year-old niece acquitted as judges said they believed the victim was mistaken about the time of the alleged crime. “The Ministry of Justice is considering amending a provision of the Criminal Code … so as to better protect the rights of children,” a ministry official said. The third case saw a child abuser jailed for just 38 months — less than half the sentence sought by prosecutors. The rulings drew severe criticism from child protection groups, who called for the legal authorities to do more to save youngsters from abuse. The Garden of Hope Foundation has demanded the removal of what it called “dinosaur judges” and said the call has won the support of 270,000 people on its Web site. It also threatened to launch a mass protest if the authorities did not respond to its appeal.

  ■ ECONOMY

  Delegation to recruit

  The nation’s top economic planner will lead a delegation, which will include Minister without Portfolio Chang Jin-fu (張進福), to the US and Canada on Thursday to recruit high-tech talent. The delegation, led by Chairwoman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development Christina Liu (劉憶如), will visit Los Angeles, Boston, Austin San Francisco and Toronto, where they will interview overseas Taiwanese and other professionals for positions in Taiwan’s high-tech industry. At a time when the recovery of the US economy is still slow, the delegation will highlight Taiwan’s relatively strong economy, its cosmopolitan work and living environment and career development opportunities for high-tech professionals, Chang said. During the trip, Chang will give speeches in Boston and San Francisco to promote a global investment solicitation campaign that will start in October. The Taiwanese government assembles high-tech talent recruitment delegations every year. Later this year, a delegation will head to Seattle, Boston, New York and Toronto and visit Intel, Google, Microsoft, IBM and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on a tour aimed at recruiting professionals in the field of cloud computing, Chang said.

  ■ CONSUMER RIGHTS

  Sunglasses lack labels

  The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection recently inspected 29 types of sunglasses on the market and found that although all passed product safety tests, more than 80 percent did not have proper labeling. Bureau officials have issued warnings to the makers of the sunglasses to make improvements immediately or face fines between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million.

  ■ ECONOMY

  NFA ready to aid New Zealand

  The National Fire Agency (NFA) is closely monitoring the situation in New Zealand after a magnitude 7 earthquake occurred there on Saturday, and is ready to send a search-and-­rescue team if necessary, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. After learning of the earthquake, the fire agency instructed its special search-and-rescue team to prepare to join the disaster relief work, the ministry said. New Zealand told the OCHA there was no immediate need for international assistance, the ministry added.
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