ENVIRONMENT
Tree removals spark protests
Environmentalists yesterday staged a protest outside the National Police Agency to protest the illegal removal of dozens of decades-old trees from parks in New Taipei City (新北市) to make room for the construction of police stations, as well as the prosecution of an environmentalist, who protested against the removals last month. Although then-Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) and then-Taipei County Police Department chief Liu Kuo-tung (林國棟) admitted at a county council meeting last year that the proper legal requirements were not completed before the removal of the trees and apologized, the police still removed a total of 48 trees to make room for six police stations. Responding to the protesters, police agency official Lu Hsin-tsai (呂新財) yesterday promised that the agency would act more cautiously in the future.
POLITICS
Government hands out funds
The central government disbursed a total of NT$71.8 billion (US$2.47 billion) in cash to local governments on Thursday so they could pay salaries, year-end bonuses, job performance awards and retirement pensions, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said. The move came after Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) asked the DGBAS to deliver “the most basic fairness and justice” to government officials at all levels as the nation prepares to welcome the Year of the Rabbit on Feb. 3. The DGBAS said that of the total, NT$68 billion was for regular budgets allocated to local governments for this month and next month, while NT$3.8 billion was the government’s reserve funds.
AGRICULTURE
China open to CAS products
Quality agricultural and farm products with CAS certificates will now be allowed into the Chinese market because the label has been registered in Taiwan, according to a Council of Agriculture official. “Taiwanese CAS-certified food products will gain an advantage in the vast Chinese market now that approval has been obtained for sales in China,” the council’s Animal Industry Department Director Hsu Kuei-sen (許桂森) said. “Efforts will be made to expand the sales network for CAS products from Shanghai to other Chinese cities, in collaboration with local importers and distributors.” Chue Weihsiung (崔軼雄), president of a Cityshop supermarket outlet in Shanghai, said the CAS label would help increase sales of Taiwanese meat products by 25 percent at his chain stores.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
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