The Cabinet yesterday approved a proposal by the National Communications Commission (NCC) to develop the fourth-generation (4G) mobile broadband network after the service is inaugurated next year.
Minister Without Portfolio Simon Chang (張善政) said the government would earmark NT$20 billion (US$675.8 million) to help the industry, including a project to encourage service providers to install base stations in remote areas to help reduce the urban-rural digital divide.
The Cabinet also approved a proposed six-year fund of NT$60 billion for flood control, continuing the eight-year NT$116 billion flood prevention and water management program begun in 2006.
Under the proposal, the government would finance the fund either by taking out loans or selling publicly owned shares, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) told a press conference held following the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Heavy rains brought by two typhoons in early September caused extensive damage in mountainous and plains regions in the south, prompting local governments to ask the central government to budget a new flood control plan that would take up where the eight-year project, which ends this year, leaves off.
The Cabinet also decided to send back an amendment to the Organ Transplant Act (人體器官移植條例) to the Ministry of Health and Welfare for further consultations after Cabinet members were divided over articles regarding organs harvested from convicted prisoners, Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said.
The act now allows organ harvesting from dead inmates as long as the inmates gave their prior agreement and made the decision of their own free will.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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