SOCIETY
Overstayer program unveiled
A forgiveness program has been introduced to help foreign nationals who have overstayed their visas to leave Taiwan easily and quickly, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said on Wednesday. The measure encourages foreign nationals who have overstayed their visa to report to NIA offices across the country by June 30. As long as a minimum fine of NT$2,000 is paid before boarding an expedited flight out the country, such people would be allowed to leave without being placed in a detention center, it said. Draft amendments have been referred to the legislature with a goal of discouraging foreigners from illegally overstaying in Taiwan, the NIA said. The proposed amendments would increase fines for overstaying foreign nationals to NT$30,000 to NT$150,000 from NT$2,000 to NT$10,000, with a ban on offenders returning to Taiwan extended from three years to 10.
DIPLOMACY
You Si-kun meets Moriarty
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?), who has just concluded a three-day visit to the US, on Thursday said that he met with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty on Wednesday. US government officials handling labor, human rights and environmental issues were also at the meeting with Moriarty, You said, but he did not elaborate on what was discussed. On Thursday, he traveled to New York to meet with Taiwanese expatriate groups before departing for Taiwan in the evening. Earlier in the trip, he attended the National Prayer Breakfast, at which US President Joe Biden addressed more than 400 members of the US Congress, other US government officials and foreign guests.
CRIME
Mother sentenced for killing
A woman was sentenced to 11 years and 10 months in prison for killing her two-year-old daughter prior to attempting suicide, the Supreme Court said on Thursday in a final verdict that upheld a High Court ruling. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), had attempted to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills before burning charcoal in a closed room where her daughter had fallen asleep after being fed strawberry jam laced with sleeping pills on April 11, 2021, the Shilin District Court said. The Shilin court said that Chen — who it determined has a long-term psychiatric disorder — had decided she would rather have her daughter die with her than be taken by the girl’s father. Her daughter died due to inhalation of excessive carbon monoxide from the burning charcoal, it said. In March last year, the Shilin District Court sentenced Chen to 12 years in jail for the intentional killing of a child. The case was heard again in August last year at the High Court, which shortened the sentence to 11 years and 10 months after Chen expressed remorse.
HEALTH
COVID-19 deaths top 100
Taiwan yesterday reported 105 deaths attributable to COVID-19, the first time since the middle of July last year that the single-day death toll exceeded 100, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) data showed. The CECC attributed the surge to a buildup of cases during the Lunar New Year holiday, during which many medical institutions were closed. It said that the daily number of deaths would likely decrease starting today. The deceased reported yesterday ranged in age from their 20s to their 90s. All but five had underlying health issues, while 47 had not been vaccinated against the disease, the CECC said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened 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), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
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