UN RESOLUTION 2758
Canada backs Taiwan
The Canadian House of Commons on Wednesday unanimously passed a motion stating that UN Resolution 2758 does not establish the People’s Republic China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and does not determine the nation’s right to participate in the UN or other international organizations. The motion was proposed by Bloc Quebecois President Yves Perron, who said it was unanimously agreed upon by all parties before the meeting was convened. Parliament members would speak up with allies around the world to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, including the WHO and the International Civil Aviation Organization, Perron said. China is manipulating the implications of the resolution to legitimize its military actions in Taiwan’s territorial airspace and waters, he said.
LABOR
MOL seeks to raise fines
Upcoming amendments would seek to increase maximum fines for creating an unsafe work environment from NT$300,000 to NT$1.5 million (US$9,305 to US$46,526) in hopes of preventing occupational accidents, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said yesterday. The draft amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法) seeks to prevent construction accidents by strengthening contractors’ safety management, raising the maximum penalty and disclosing more information about businesses that breach safety standards, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Director-General Tzou Tzu-lien (鄒子廉) said. It would also require property owners to implement risk evaluation and prepare a budget for safety measures, he added. Subcontracting is common in the construction industry, yet most contractors do not perform their duty to ensure occupational safety, Tzou said. Renting venues and equipment without disclosing risks could lead to occupational accidents, he added.
DIPLOMACY
Poland, Fiji envoys named
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Jeff Liu (劉永健) is to be the new representative to Poland, while former ambassador to Nauru Joseph Chow (周進發) is to serve as the envoy to Fiji for the second time. Liu, who has served as the ministry’s spokesman since January last year, would take up his post following envoy Sharon Wu’s (吳尚年) return to Taipei in August, a Cabinet announcement released on Wednesday said. Liu’s previous overseas posts include India, New York, Washington and New Zealand. Meanwhile, Chow worked at the ministry’s Taipei headquarters after diplomatic ties with Nauru were severed. His previous overseas posts include Nauru and Australia.
WEATHER
Heavy rain expected
The northern and eastern parts of Taiwan are expected to experience heavy rain until tomorrow as Typhoon Yinxing approaches, the Central Weather Administration said on Wednesday. As Yinxing was predicted to veer further west and to be closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon to this evening, heavy rain is expected along the Keelung north coast and eastern Taiwan, with isolated instances of extremely heavy rain in Yilan, agency forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳) said. Seasonal winds are likely to weaken today, but rain is to persist, bringing down temperatures in the north and northeast until it rebounds to about 27°C tomorrow. The next wave of northeasterly winds is to pick up on Sunday and is expected to bring rain across Taiwan until Wednesday next week, Chang said.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
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