TRANSPORTATION
‘Road smoking’ fines start
People who smoke while driving or riding a motorcycle may be fined NT$600 beginning today, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The fine is to be applied when a complaint is filed against a motorist for smoking and potentially endangering public safety. Smoking while driving or riding a motorcycle endangers the safety of other road users because cigarette butts or ashes can fly in the wind and burn or affect other road users, and smoke can also affect motorists’ ability to see, the ministry said. In principle, the law has set the range of the potentially dangerous effects of cigarette smoking at 3.5m, but if people who file complaints can prove they were affected beyond this distance, the smoking motorists would be fined, it said.
TRANSPORTATION
THSRC details new service
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THRSC) yesterday said that the introduction of three new stations on its transportation route later this year will not slow down train services, since a new service is to be added. At a stockholders’ meeting, THSRC chief executive Jeng Kuang-yeun (鄭光遠) said that when the stations in Miaoli, Changhua and Yunlin counties are opened on Dec. 1, the company would start a new service between Taipei and Kaohsiung, with stops at all stations on the route, including the new ones. That route would take 138 minutes, while existing express and regular trains would continue to operate, taking 96 and 120 minutes respectively between Taipei and Kaohsiung, he said. The express usually makes two stops along the way, in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) and Taichung, while the regular service stops at all six stations. With the introduction of a third service operating at least one train per hour, trains would stop at all nine stations, Jeng said.
TRANSPORTATION
NCKU touts eco two-seater
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) yesterday unveiled the nation’s first home-grown electric vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cells and lithium batteries. The university said it has applied for patent protection and is prepared to transfer the technology to a vehicle manufacturer and bring the product to the market. According to Lai Wei-hsiang (賴維祥), director of NCKU’s Advanced Propulsion and Power System Research Center, lithium batteries can provide high power output, while hydrogen-powered fuel cells can supplement power and supply stable electricity. He said the vehicle has a range of 150km and does not generate any carbon emissions. Europe, the US and Japan have launched fuel cell electric vehicles on the market, but while those are four-seat models, NCKU’s offering is a two-seater.
SOCIETY
Equality march on Saturday
The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights on Monday said that it would hold a protest march on Saturday to fight for marriage equality. The alliance decided to hold the march after the US Supreme Court on Friday ruled that same-sex marriage was legal. On Saturday, the protesters plan to march to the headquarters of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party in Taipei to demand that the parties include a marriage equality bill in the final session of this legislature, the alliance said. The alliance said it would not rule out taking more drastic action if the move fails.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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