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.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,