The electronic national ID (eID) card will have a “military grade” information-security system, a senior Ministry of the Interior official said yesterday.
The government announced last year that new ID cards that combined existing national ID cards with Citizen Digital Certificates would be launched by October this year.
However, early last month, Department of Household Registration Affairs Director Chang Wan-yi (張琬宜) said that travel restrictions triggered by COVID-19 had made importing the equipment to manufacture the cards difficult, so the rollout would likely be pushed back until next year.
Chang yesterday confirmed that the program has been delayed probably until next year, due to improvements being made to the cards and production issues caused by the pandemic.
The ministry originally estimated the new cards would cost the same as the current national IDs — NT$200 — but production costs have been higher due to the improved security features, she said
While initial cards would be provided free of charge, there are plans to charge a NT$900 fee for replacements for lost cards, because the department has to carry out additional identity checks and other risk-prevention measures since the new cards would carry more sensitive data, she said.
People who need to replace an eIDs due to changes in personal information would have to pay a NT$300 fee, she said.
The costs are still just estimates, and the department would welcome public input, she said.
However, replacing or undating an eID would still be cheaper than other government-issued documents, such as passports or Alien Resident Certificate cards for foreigners, which respectively cost NT$1,300 and NT$1,000 to replace, Chang said.
“The eID will be the most secure type of card issued in the country ... It will be as secure as a classified military document,” she said.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS