SOCIETY
Ramadan tolerance urged
The Taipei City Government urged employers to show more tolerance and respect for Muslim workers during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of dawn-to-dusk fasting that begins today. Taipei is home to more than 40,000 migrant workers, of which 74 percent are Indonesian nationals, who are mostly Muslims, Taipei Department of Labor Commissioner Lai Hsiang-lin (賴香伶) said. During the period, Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink during daytime, but still need to work, which could be difficult, Lai said. She urged employers to respect the various religious beliefs of foreign workers to develop harmonious labor relations. To mark the end of Ramadan, the city is to hold a Eid al-Fitr celebration at the Taipei Travel Plaza near Taipei Railway Station on June 25, the Taipei Foreign and Disabled Labor Office said.
CUSTOMS
Undeclared cash seized
A Japanese man carrying more than US$88,000 worth of undeclared US dollar, Japanese yen and Singapore dollar bills had 88 percent of the cash he was carrying confiscated by customs officers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Saturday last week. The man, who was about to board a flight to Japan, was found to be carrying US$16,400, ￥4.3 million (US$38,460) and S$46,890 (US$33,865) in a suitcase, according to a news release from the Ministry of Finance’s Customs Administration on Monday. The officers allowed the man to leave with US$10,000, but confiscated the rest. Customs officers said passengers carrying cash or traveler’s checks in excess of US$10,000 are required to make a declaration when they pass through border control posts at airports or ports.
TAXES
Duty-free rules to change
The Ministry of Finance plans to lower the duty-free threshold for goods imported via mail to NT$2,000 from the current NT$3,000, probably starting in September. The measure is aimed at providing a fair playing field for domestic online shopping companies to compete with their overseas rivals, as well as to broaden the tax base, the ministry said. An implementation date has not yet been settled, as regulations on the clearance of imported and exported postal parcels need to be revised, it added. Meanwhile, people who frequently import goods via mail are to have to pay customs duties starting on July 1. Frequent mail is defined as mail sent more than six times to the same person or the same address in half a year. A duty is to be levied on goods mailed from the seventh time onward, with the calendar year divided into two periods: from Jan. 1 to June 30, and from July 1 to Dec. 31.
TOURISM
Taipei 101 tops attractions
The Taipei 101 skyscraper was named as the top landmark in the nation for the third consecutive year on a list published by US travel planning and booking site TripAdvisor. The “Top 10 Landmarks — Taiwan” list was released on Tuesday as part of the company’s annual Travelers’ Choice Awards, which ranks the world’s best destinations, attractions, hotels, restaurants and airlines based on the quality and quantity of user reviews gathered over a 12-month period. Taipei 101 topped the list, followed by Longshan Temple and the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei; Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum and Main Public Library in Kaohsiung; The Dome of Light stained glass ceiling at the Kaohsiung MRT System’s Formosa Boulevard Station; Baoan Temple in Taipei; Anping Tree House in Tainan; the Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei; and Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaohsiung.
TRANSPORTATION
Airport expansion to begin
A project to build a third terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to get off the ground today and is scheduled to be completed in 2020, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said yesterday. The new terminal is expected to service up to 45 million passengers per year, more than the combined capacity of Terminals 1 and 2 at 35 million, the firm said, adding that work on the next phase of the NT$74.6 billion (US$2.48 billion) project is to start before March next year. Terminal 3 is to have 21 departure gates and be ready for full service a year after construction is scheduled to be completed, the company said. The design contract was awarded to British architectural firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, which has designed a wave-like ceiling to reflect the flow of passengers, the airport operator said.
TRANSPORTATION
Thousands use K-Bike
More than 12,000 people have used Kinmen County’s K-Bike public rental bicycle system since its launch on April 16, officials said. People can use a K-Bike free of charge for the first four hours, paying NT$10 for every 30 minutes thereafter up to a maximum of NT$150 per day, a discounted rate that is to continue until the end of August, they said. There are 29 pickup and drop-off points around the county, with 500 bicycles in service, officials said. Users can pay the rental fee with a credit card, Taipei’s EasyCard, Kaohsiung’s I-Pass or a China Union Pay card, which is issued by a Chinese state-owned financial services corporation and held by most Chinese tourists.
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
RSS