TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Thursday (April 25) thanked President Joe Biden and the U.S. Congress for passing a US$95.34 billion (NT$3.1 trillion) foreign aid bill into law that includes provisions that “strongly support Taiwan.”
On Wednesday (April 24), Biden signed into law “The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024,” which supports security initiatives in the Indo-Pacific region, including for Taiwan. It aims to provide financial resources for military assistance to Taiwan and “strengthen even further our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Biden. The provisions concerning Taiwan were passed with an overwhelming majority of 385 to 34 by the House of Representatives on Saturday (April 20). As the legislation comes on the heels of the 45th anniversary of the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), the ministry expressed its thanks to “our bipartisan friends” in Congress and the Biden administration for “once again demonstrating their high regard and support for enhancing Taiwan-U.S. security cooperation and maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region through specific legislative actions.” “As a responsible and trustworthy partner of the international community, Taiwan will continue to steadfastly promote various national defense reforms in line with overall national policies,” said the Ministry. It added that Taiwan will seek to “improve its self-defense capabilities and further strengthen close cooperation with the U.S. and other like-minded countries to jointly defend the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and uphold peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.” Taiwan and Indo-Pacific countries are set to receive US$8.12 billion. Of that, US$2 billion is earmarked for a Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program for Taiwan and other U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Another US$1.9 billion will be allocated to replenish defense articles and services supplied to Taiwan and other regional U.S. partners. The rest of the funds will be directed at strengthening the U.S. military presence in the region. This includes US$3.3 billion to build submarine infrastructure, US$542 million to bolster U.S. military capabilities, and US$133 million to augment the development of artillery and vital munitions. The law follows the passing on March 23 of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, which includes US$300 million in military funding for Taiwan, bars the purchase of maps showing Taiwan as part of China, and provides financing for the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan.
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TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The head of an international coalition of death penalty abolitionists has criticized scholars for saying that it is “dangerous” for the constitutional court to abolish the death penalty.
On Tuesday (April 23) Taiwan’s constitutional court debated the constitutionality of the death penalty. In response, Honorary professor in the Department of Law at Kainan University Cheng Shan-yin (鄭善印) argued it would be dangerous for just the court’s justices, to decide the issue. Opinion polls have shown that 87.8% of Taiwanese oppose the abolition of the death penalty. Director of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty Aurelie Placais told reporters she disagreed with Cheng’s argument that it would be inappropriate for the court to potentially overrule public opinion. She said that because the court hands down the sentence of death the courts should be able to determine if that practice is continued. “It is really an exceptional punishment, and the court is imposing that sentence, so they of course should have a say in whether it is constitutional or not,” Placais said. She said that of the countries that have abolished the death penalty, about half have done so through a constitutional process, and half through a legislative process. According to the Taiwan NGO, Taiwan Innocence Project, seven people sentenced to death in Taiwan have subsequently been found innocent. “The judiciary is aware that there are flaws, and there will always be room for miscarriage of justice no matter how good your judicial system is,” Placais said. Placais expressed understanding for those who call for the death penalty when severe crimes are committed but maintained that states should not be able to kill their citizens. “When something terrible happens, you want the person to be punished. It’s a very emotional response, and it's normal,” she said. “But it should not be the answer of the state. The state has a duty to protect its citizens, no matter who they are, and there are ways to protect society that do not involve the death penalty.” Asked if President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should intervene in her final days as president to overturn the death penalty, Placais said she should not. “I think it’s something for the court to decide, it should not be something political." The issue of the death penalty was politicized during Taiwan’s general election in January. Candidates from the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) supported capital punishment, with the former accusing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of de-facto abolition. On the campaign trail then DPP candidate President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said that a high degree of public support would be needed to abolish the death penalty. Meanwhile, TPP candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) argued the high level of public support in Taiwan for the death penalty stemmed from its long-time use in Chinese societies. However, Placais refuted this “cultural” argument for the death penalty. “Countries that execute the most people have nothing in common,” she said. The states that executed the largest number of people in 2022 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the U.S. Placais pointed out that these five countries have different religions, systems of government, and cultures. “So it's very difficult for us when we look at the broader picture to understand what is really a cultural value when there are so many different countries that have the death penalty and that use it.” TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A 17-year-old high school student surnamed Huang (黃) who had been interning at a Hualien hotel died on Thursday (April 25) from injuries sustained during the April 3 quake, bringing the death toll to 18.
On April 3 morning, Huang was riding a shuttle bus on Provincial Highway 8 to Silks Place Taroko Hotel as it passed through the Tunnel of Nine Turns. Huang, a Hualien Sun Dance Vocational Senior High School student, was interning in a cooperative education program at the hotel. When the quake struck, rocks fell onto the bus, severely injuring his legs and trapping him inside for 32 hours before being rescued by a search and rescue team. He suffered injuries, including multiple open fractures and chest trauma. Although he had vital signs when taken to the hospital, he was unconscious and unable to breathe independently, so was placed on an ECMO machine in the intensive care unit of Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital. Yu En-lang (游恩郎), the acting principal of the high school, said teachers monitored Huang's condition every day. However, on Thursday, the hospital said Huang died from organ failure. The family notified the school, leaving teachers and students deeply saddened. Yu said that if government agencies, organizations, or social welfare groups wish to donate, the school will provide account information or transfer the donations to his family, which is economically disadvantaged. Huang will be sent home from the hospital, and teachers will arrange for students to visit his home on Friday (April 26) to pay their respects, as well as arrange for counseling for classmates. Yu said the Silks Place Taroko Hotel intern program is temporarily suspended due to risky mountain road conditions. The school has applied to the Ministry of Education for a new interning location. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A male passenger faces a NT$1 million (US$30,000) fine for jumping onto an MRT track and causing delays during rush hour on Thursday (April 25).
At 4:51 p.m., a 33-year-old man climbed over the platform barrier and jumped onto the tracks at the Minquan West Road Station on the Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) before the train entered the station. Although the train stopped, he was pinned under the front of the lead carriage. When first responders arrived at the scene, the man was conscious but had suffered a broken foot. He was taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital for medical treatment. In response to the incident, the Taipei Metro had to operate the Red Line on a single track between Minquan West Road Station and Jiantan Station in both directions. Shuttle buses were temporarily provided between Shuanglian Station and Shilin Station, with normal MRT operations resuming at 5:29 p.m. After reviewing surveillance camera footage of the incident, the Taipei Metro said it would impose a maximum fine of NT$1 million for breaching Article 50, Paragraph 2 of the Mass Rapid Transit Act (大眾捷運法). Police are investigating why the man jumped onto the tracks. The Taipei Metro said that when the driver discovered the man had jumped onto the track, he immediately made an emergency stop. The traffic control center simultaneously cut off power and dialed 110 and 119. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei City on Friday (April 26) hosted drills simulating prevention and rescue operations during a major earthquake, with teams from Japan, the United States, and Singapore taking part.
A magnitude 7.2 quake hit Hualien County on April 3. More than 1,000 aftershocks have since hit the region on Taiwan’s east coast, with the strongest also being felt in Taipei in the north. Friday’s drills were based on the theory that a magnitude 6.6 quake had hit the capital, with the worst devastation recorded in the districts of Beitou and Shilin, per Radio Taiwan International (RTI). In such an event, 4,100 people might die or suffer grave injuries, 4,400 buildings would collapse, and 13,000 would be severely damaged. The drills started at 9 a.m. with a test of the earthquake alert messages for residents of the two Taipei districts. Members of an evaluation committee then watched the unscripted response of the participants during the six hours following the supposed disaster. A rescue team from California, fire fighters from Tokyo, a civil defense unit from Singapore, and Taiwan’s military joined in the rescue work. The drills considered how to find victims trapped in the rubble, how to provide medical care, and how to move the injured to hospitals, and other people to a school functioning as a refuge. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A plan to improve Taipei’s Shida Road could become a model for fixing Taiwan’s many haphazard road designs, according to one city councilor.
Vincent Chao (趙怡翔) is a member of the Taipei City Council for Daan District, and told Taiwan News about an improvement plan for the section of mixed residential and commerical road near Shida Night Market. “What we want to do is cut down on wasted space,” he said. Vehicles enjoy a total width of 5.9 meters on some parts of Shida Road, while some of the sidewalks are too narrow for two people to comfortably walk past one another. On the day Taiwan News visited with Chao, many cars were parked illegally, sidewalks were covered with parked scooters, and schoolchildren walked on the road. Chao is part of a team of councilors working on the road improvement plan that seeks to increase sidewalk width, stop people parking scooters on sidewalks, and create more parking overall. The project will upgrade 1.2 kilometers of sidewalks, vehicle lanes, and drainage systems. When complete, there will be an additional 2 meters of sidewalk width along most of the road, parking will be cut into the sidewalk where needed (instead of being on the roadway itself), and the accessability of pedestrian crossings will be improved. Most of this will be acheived by narrowing the vehicle lanes, which Chao said are needlessley wide. The ultimate goal is to better use the road’s existing space to increase safety for all road users, Chao said - especially for pedestrians. Transport ministry statistics show 380 pedestrians died and over 17,200 were injured on Taiwan's roads in 2023, while there were over 3,000 traffic related deaths overall. To remove parked scooters from underneath covered walkways, 32 more scooter parking spaces will be built, and existing parking will be moved into some of the roadway’s current width. According to the plan, an additional 12 car parks will also be built alongside four more for goods and service vehicles. Dedicated cycle lanes are not part of the plan. Chao said using cutouts in the sidewalk is expected to create a safer space for cyclists and pedestrians. He said this will be achieved by giving cyclists a clear line of sight down the road instead of weaving around parked cars. Chao said that traffic safety problems on some of Taipei’s larger roads had been dealt with in the past, and said now the smaller mixed residential and commercial roads need attention. He said his goal in Taipei City is to create improvements that other local leaders can look to as model cases. “If we are able to do Shida Road very nicely, which we will, I think that is going to create an impetus for others to look at what we have done here and to replicate it,” he said. Taipei's poor road designs are partly due to the city's history. When many of the older buildings in Taipei were built, developers were not required to provide scooter or car parking spaces. “All of those costs that should have been shouldered by the resident have been passed into the public sphere,” Chao said. The cost for upgrading Shida Road is expected to come in at around NT$40-50 million (US$1.23-1.54 million), and construction is set to begin in June and finish in December. Other roads in his electorate Chao has his eye on for upgrades include Zhinan Road outside National Chengchi University, and some in the Jingmei area. It may come as a surprise to learn that Chao believes the “pedestrian hell” label that has been applied to Taiwan has been a benefit. “I'm all for it,” he said. “I think the more attention there is on it, the more motivation and impetus we have to work across party lines and partisan lines to really fix this problem.” In addition to historical issues with building codes, Chao said the root of the problem for many of Taiwan’s roads is the lack of a compulsory nationwide framework for design - but not for lack of trying. “We actually have a pretty good set of rules at the central government level, governing road widths, sidewalks, and other things,” Chao said “But it’s not compulsory, it’s suggested,” he said. He added that because of this non-compulsory national framework, local councils have never felt the need to develop their own rules: “Basically it has opened the doors for people doing whatever they want.” “This year I have made a formal request that has been passed to the Taipei City Council requiring that by June, they need to have a draft framework for a compulsory road design in Taipei,” Chao said. He said that this is expected to be formalized legally in September, to create Taipei’s first mandatory road design standards. Chao is 18 months into his four year term representing Daan, and said he is prioritizing road safety during this stint in office. “We are making progress,” he said. “Formalizing standard road designs is going to be a huge step forward,” Chao said. “I have asked Taipei City Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) directly and said we need funding, we need personnel, we need regulations.” Chiang’s office declined an invitation to speak with Taiwan News for this article, though in February he held a press conference calling on all of the city’s bureaus and relevant departments to improve traffic safety measures. Chiang said Taipei City would broaden the scope of traffic safety reporting, and increase educational materials for road safety, targeting young people on bikes in particular. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced Thursday (April 25) a sixth wave of Cabinet ministers, including heads of the defense and foreign affairs ministries.
Lai will take office on May 20, and he and Premier-designate Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) have rolled out names for Cabinet posts in five waves since April 10. During a press conference, the president-elect said National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) would take the helm of the Ministry of National Defense (MND). Former Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) will lead the Ministery of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Vice chair of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and former deputy head of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), will serve as head of MAC. Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) will maintain his post as director-general of the National Security Bureau (NSB). Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) has been appointed secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC). Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) will take over as chair of the SEF. Former defense minister and former NSC secretary-general, Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發), has been tapped to head the Veterans Affairs Council (VAC). Former Pingtung County magistrate and ex-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker, Pan Men-an (潘孟安), has been chosen to serve as secretary-general to the president. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — More than 40 U.S. military personnel were deployed to Taiwan as of December 2023, a Congressional Research Service report revealed last week.
The report cited the Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data Center, which said 41 U.S. military personnel were sent to Taiwan at that time. Taiwan and U.S. media have previously claimed U.S. military personnel were stationed in Taiwan. However, U.S. defense officials did not provide any details, only saying they “do not have a comment on specific operations, engagements, or training” with regard to U.S. military exchanges with Taiwan. Last month, Taiwan's defense minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) confirmed that U.S. Army Green Berets were stationed in command centers in Kinmen and Penghu. Taiwan's military "may have some blind spots and shortcomings and therefore it is important to communicate with others who are friendly to us, whether they are teams, groups, or countries," Chiu said. He described the exchanges as taking place on a "regular basis." In 2021, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) became the first Taiwan president to confirm the presence of U.S. troops in the country. In an interview with reporters, she said the number of U.S. military personnel was "not as many as people thought." She added that Taiwan has “a wide range of cooperation with the U.S.” to bolster its defense capability. Taiwan-U.S. military cooperation has been conducted under the radar due to the lack of diplomatic relations and concerns that major public engagement could cause China to escalate provocations toward Taiwan, the report said. The U.S. military routinely sends delegations to observe Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang military exercise. Taiwanese troops also have reportedly trained with the Hawaii, Michigan, Utah, and Washington national guards, according to the report. Taiwan began receiving training through the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program in 2023 as well. Additionally, Taiwanese Air Force pilots have participated in the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 pilot training program in Arizona since 1997. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Following damage during the April 3 earthquake, a section of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Circular Line in New Taipei City will need more than one year of repairs before it can resume operations, reports said Wednesday (April 24).
The magnitude 7.2 quake that struck Hualien County also caused extensive damage outside the region. The section between Zhonghe and Banqiao was the most seriously affected, with a bus service currently replacing the trains. In seven spots, rails had moved 20 to 92 centimeters, with four other locations reporting displacements over 3.5 to 6 cm. While repairs have been made, engineering experts still need to complete more thorough safety reviews to find out why the damage occurred. At a session of the New Taipei City Council on Wednesday, councilors wanted to know whether only the quake was to blame, or whether there had been mistakes with the design, since the line was built to resist even stronger quakes. Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) reported the investigation was still proceeding, with the next meeting of experts scheduled for Friday (April 26). He said the damage was more serious than first expected, with repairs set to last at least one year. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — To prevent landlords from overcharging electricity fees, the Ministry of the Interior said Wednesday (April 24) it would amend rental contract regulations, with implementation scheduled for May.
Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said the electricity price per kilowatt-hour should not exceed the average electricity price per kilowatt-hour on the electricity bill. In addition, the total amount of electricity charges collected by landlords each period should not exceed the total amount on the electricity bill. The Legislative Yuan's Internal Administration Committee invited Lin, Deputy Interior Minister Hua Ching-chun (花敬群), and National Immigration Agency Director-General: Bill Chung (鍾景琨) to review draft amendments to some provisions of the Nationality law (國籍法). During the interpolation session, Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) said the recent increase in electricity prices has put pressure on tenants, and expressed concern that landlords would pass on costs to tenants. Lin responded by saying that on March 27, a meeting to discuss and confirm improvement plans was held. The amendments were announced for a 20-day review period, and after this notice period ends, they will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval. Lin said the amendments focus on two points. First, in terms of the standard for charging electricity fees in leases based on "electricity consumption," the electricity price per kilowatt-hour should not exceed the "average electricity price per kilowatt-hour" on the electricity bill for the leased property. In addition, it specifies that landlords cannot charge additional fees for electricity for common facilities if not already included in the lease. Lin said for those contracts not stipulating billing based on electricity consumption, the total amount of electricity charges collected by the landlord per period should not exceed the total electricity charges for that period on the electricity bill for the leased property. Lin said the second aspect of the amendment concerns the provision of electricity fee information at rental properties. It involves adding a requirement for landlords to enable tenants to inquire about electricity fee information during the lease period. Niu asked Lin when the amendment is expected to take effect after the notice period. Lin responded by saying that after the review period ends, there may be an approval process in the Cabinet. Niu then expressed the hope that it could take effect in May, to which Lin replied, “That should not be a problem.” |
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