CULTURAL HERITAGE
Firm files over bunkers
A renewable energy firm building a solar farm in Pingtung County’s Fangliao Township (枋寮) has requested that the county protect World War II-era bunkers on the construction site as cultural heritage. Shengli Energy in September last year uncovered Japanese bunkers while preparing the ground for the solar farm. The bunkers were connected to a larger system of fortifications built toward the end of 1945 by the Japanese military to shield Taiwan from an Allied invasion that never came. Last month, the county rejected a filing by conservationists to list the bunkers as a heritage site on a technicality, but without contesting that the fortification might have cultural value. Shengli Energy is renewing the historical heritage filing for two pillboxes, an observation post and connecting tunnels inside the project area, firm spokeswoman Chang Shu-wen (張淑雯) said. However, the discovery has fueled local opposition to the project. Opponents to the project said that they are also concerned that trees are being cut down to make room for the solar panels, which could make the area more vulnerable to landslides. Lin Yang-chu (林洋助), director of the county’s cultural heritage office, said that the agency has opened bids for experts to evaluate the fortifications’ cultural value and advise the county on their preservation.
HEALTH
Crack down on teen vapers
People under the age of 18 will not be permitted to buy or smoke electronic cigarettes in New Taipei City when a new ordinance takes effect early next month, the city government said yesterday. The ordinance on e-cigarettes was passed by the New Taipei City Council on April 29 and is expected to take effect on Aug. 6, two days after it is to be promulgated, the city said. When it takes effect, vapers under the age of 18 would be required to enroll in a program to help them quit smoking if they caught carrying or smoking e-cigarettes in New Taipei City, the city’s Department of Health said in a statement. Offenders who skip the programs without a valid reason would face fines of up to NT$10,000 (US$357), the department said, adding that individuals or businesses found selling e-cigarettes or other vaping devices to people under the age of 18 would risk a fine of up to NT$100,000.
AGRICULTURE
Garlic price riseo censured
The Control Yuan on Wednesday censured the Council of Agriculture for a spike in garlic prices from July to September last year. Control Yuan member Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) conducted the investigation that led to the censure, the Control Yuan said in a news release. Early last year, the wholesale price of garlic was NT$170 per kilogram, but then its price skyrocketed to as much as NT$400 per kilogram in some locations, it said, citing Chen’s report. The price hike occurred after large shipments of imported garlic were rejected for being contaminated, but the council’s failure to react to warnings on multiple occasions compounded supply shortages, the report said. Local farmers’ cooperatives discovered the contamination, which had slipped through customs, it said. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine failed to share the information with the council’s Agriculture and Food Agency, it said. Prices of garlic steadily rose in subsequent months, but the council’s inactivity continued until Aug. 6, it said. The council did not carry out its duty to protect consumers, it added.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
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
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