POLITICS
Race switch rumored
Former minister of transportation and communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), who had said he would contest this year’s Taipei mayoral election, has been convinced by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to run for mayor of New Taipei City, a party insider said yesterday. Tsai, who is Democratic Progressive Party chairperson, spoke with Lin yesterday, the source said, adding that Lin also received telephone calls from other top DPP officials who urged him to run as the party’s candidate against New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Lin was moved by Tsai’s continual prodding, with the two having conversed on the matter several times before, the source said. The DPP is expected to finalize the details and make an official announcement on Wednesday, the source added.
SOCIETY
Population decline continues
The nation’s population continued to decline last month, with the number of people falling 1.2 percent year-on-year, household registration data released by the Ministry of the Interior yesterday showed. The total population stood at 23,186,278 at the end of last month, down by 301,231 from the same month last year and a drop of 0.8 percent, or 189,036 people, compared with six months earlier, the data showed. The month also had the most deaths — 21,033 — in the past six months, exceeding 20,000 for the first time in the past year. The 10,943 births last month, a crude birthrate of 5.74 per 1,000 people, brought the number of live births in Taiwan to 67,149 in the first six months this year, down 9 percent from the same period last year. Taiwan’s population shrank for the first time on record in 2020, with 165,249 births and 173,156 deaths, previous data showed.
EMPLOYMENT
Online services expanded
Migrant workers in Taiwan and their employers can now check online to track the progress of their employment-related documents, the Ministry of Labor said on Wednesday. The new system has a multilingual user interface that makes it easier for migrant workers to navigate the Web site in their native language and check the status of their work permit applications and employment renewal records, the ministry said. Migrant workers can also download some employment documents from the site, it said. With the launch of the new system, migrant workers can easily track and obtain their certificates of employment and employer transfer records online, once they log into the system, the ministry said. Employers can log in on the Workforce Development Agency’s (www.wda.gov.tw) application system to access foreign worker application documents, it said.
TRAVEL
Holiday flights announced
Bookings for 1,030 flights connecting Taiwan and its outlying islands from Sept. 8 to 12, which covers the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday weekend, are to open at 9am on Monday, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday. To satisfy customer demand around and during the days off on Sept. 9 to 11, 96,172 seats would be available on flights between Taiwan proper and Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, the CAA said. There would be 53,288 seats on 552 flights on Taiwan-Penghu routes, while Taiwan-Kinmen and Taiwan-Lienchiang routes would have 33,384 seats on 338 flights and 9,500 seats on 140 flights respectively, it said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
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