The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday announced the official launch of a reciprocal working holiday program between Taiwan and the Czech Republic for young people from both countries.
In a statement issued yesterday, the ministry said both Taipei and Prague would offer 100 working holiday openings each year for people aged between 18 and 26, who could submit their applications starting yesterday.
“The maximum stay will be one year, which is counted from the day a working holiday visa is issued. Given the Czech Employment Act, Taiwanese planning to register for the program have to apply for a work permit with a local public employment service office within the European country before they can start working,” the ministry said.
The launch of the program came about four months after Representative to the Czech Republic Lu Hsiao-jung (陸小榮) and his counterpart, Vaclav Jilek, signed a memorandum of understanding in Prague on Dec. 28 last year to pave the way for the program.
The ministry said the Czech Republic is the ninth European country and the 14th worldwide to have inked a working holiday agreement with Taiwan, after Germany, the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Austria.
“The program will provide young people from both countries who seek to broaden their global perspective overseas with a new option of destination,” the ministry said.
However, the ministry advised potential candidates to abide by local laws and remain vigilant during their stays, adding that they should contact the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the event of an emergency.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition