ECONOMY
CLA lays out ground rules
To protect workers’ rights, companies that are trying to cope with slowing demand should not institute unpaid leave for more than three months, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) said yesterday. The suggestion was included in a notice released by the CLA to provide companies with guidelines for responding to the economic downturn and avoiding labor disputes. The CLA advised that the first step in austerity measures should be to cut bonus payments to executives such as general managers, directors and supervisors. If that does not solve the problem, companies could reduce their employees’ work hours and pay, with the consent of the workers, but should not resort to layoffs, the CLA said. Any decision to adopt unpaid leave must be the result of negotiations with the individual workers and labor unions, and the periods of leave should not exceed three months, the CLA said.
TRAVEL
No bomb found in threat
A South Korean man of Taiwanese descent who told check-in staff at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport that he had a bomb in his luggage was detained and questioned by airport police yesterday at Taiwan’s main gateway. However, when police searched the 34-year-old tour guide’s luggage, they found no illegal or dangerous items in his belongings. The suspect allegedly made the bomb threat because he was dissatisfied with the efficiency of the check-in staff, airport staff said. The Aviation Police Office said travelers who make claims that threaten safety or disturb airport operations would face charges under the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法).
ENVIRONMENT
Taiwan climate risk ranked
Taiwan was placed 44th among more than 190 countries in next year’s Global Climate Risk Index, which was published on Tuesday by Germanwatch, a Germany-based non--governmental organization devoted to promoting sustainable development. The ranking indicated Taiwan was among the top 25 percent of the studied countries that were affected by extreme weather such as flooding and storms last year and during the past 20 years. It is the seventh year Germanwatch has issued the index, which analyzes the quantified impacts of extreme weather events, including tropical storms, winter storms, severe weather, hail, tornadoes and localized storms based on data from Munich Re NatCatService — one of the world’s leading databases on the issue.
TRAVEL
Sponsorship letter issued
Starting yesterday and running through Dec. 20, the National Youth Commission (NYC) will issue proof of sponsorship for UK working holiday visa program applicants, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang (章計平) said. The UK-Taiwan working holiday program is to take effect on Jan. 1, but applicants need to obtain proof of sponsorship before applying for the visa at the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taiwan, Chang said yesterday, adding that the British office would process working holiday visa applications starting on Jan. 3. The quota for UK-Taiwan working holiday visas is set at 1,000 annually, allowing Taiwanese between the ages of 18 and 34 to work and live in the UK for two years, Chang said. This could help young people gain a deeper understanding of English culture and broaden their horizons, he said. The UK is the seventh country to sign a working holiday program with Taiwan.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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