Lawmakers across party lines proposed to allocate a portion of the fines imposed on Chinese vessels found trespassing in Taiwanese waters to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), as part of efforts to boost the morale of officials at the agency.
Amid increasing incidents of Chinese vessels fishing and mining sand in the nation’s territorial waters, the lawmakers proposed amending the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) and redirect such funds to the CGA to cover operational costs and performance bonuses.
The proposal was made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Yang Yao (楊曜) and Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chen Hsuen-sheng (陳雪生) and Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍), and Independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇).
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration’s Penghu Branch
The number of vessels intercepted by the CGA over the past three years totaled 3,803, including 290 ships seized and 81 confiscated, the lawmakers said.
A total of 194 ships were fined during the period, with fines totaling NT$193.2 million (US$6.69 million at the current rate), it added.
All of the funds were directed to the public treasury per the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法), the proposal said, adding that the CGA should also profit.
The budget allocated to the agency to patrol the nation’s territorial waters was NT$5.52 million from 2018 to last year, while the agency spent NT$5.86 million, the proposal said.
Article 80 of the allocation act should be amended to redirect part of the fines to agency, to partly cover the costs of its patrol missions, the proposal said.
The coast guard’s tasks are energy-consuming and dangerous, as it often has to deal with strong opposition from the crew on board the vessels found trespassing, the lawmakers said, adding that the amendment would also improve the agency’s human-resources situation.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS