Taiwan is to bolster critical infrastructure security with a force of 1,811 police officers before the end of the year, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said during a question-and-answer session at the legislature yesterday.
The officers — to be drawn from the National Police Agency’s Second Special Police Corps — would guard the nation’s key oil, water, electricity and telecom facilities against sabotage, Liu told the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee.
The Second Police Corps would receive additional personnel, equipment and training resources for the task, she said, adding that joint response drills against specific threats would be employed to ensure police effectiveness.
Photo: CNA
The Ministry of the Interior is to continue building resilience in local communities and expanding a disaster relief volunteer certification program to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, she said.
The ministry is enhancing its collaboration with groups, schools and other government departments to grow the 26,000-member disaster relief volunteer force to 50,000 by the end of the year, she said.
Additionally, from January to last month, the police closed 12,028 fraud investigations, busting 691 scam organizations and arresting 6,358 suspects, Liu said.
Police cut 626 phone lines being used for fraud, stopped 5,170 fraudulent schemes and prevented the loss of NT$305 million (US$9.44 million) to scams, she said.
The ministry drafted proposed laws on police use of forensic technology and communication security, and preventing fraud and money laundering, which the Executive Yuan has submitted to lawmakers for review, she said.
The ministry is to implement President William Lai’s (賴清德) policy to increase social housing to 1 million units, Liu added.
The initiative would add 250,000 new homes, 250,000 units under a subleasing and management service system and 500,000 subsidized units, she said.
The ministry aims to break ground on all of the initiative’s construction projects in northern Taiwan in two years and reach its 1 million social housing units goal in eight years, she said.
The government approved 1,152 urban renewal projects and 3,599 initiatives to repair or replace condemned buildings from January to last month, Liu said.
That marked a sevenfold increase in approved projects from the first five months of 2017, before the current urban renewal rules were implemented, she said.
The rise underscores the ministry’s need to revamp the process for approving and subsidizing such projects toward improving the speed of approvals and offering more incentives, she said.
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
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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