Minister of the Interior Chang Po-ya (
Chang said she also agreed with the proposal.
But the remarks drew immediate criticism from anti-gambling groups.
Chang made the comment yesterday morning at a joint meeting of the legislature's interior and financial committees, which were reviewing amendments to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例). New Party Legislator Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) asked Chang whether the government would consider lifting the ban on casinos on the outer islands in order to boost the local economy.
"I fully agree with the idea of tourist hotels setting up casino facilities as part of the development of the local tourist industry," Chang said.
She added that Chen had also expressed his agreement with the proposal in a recent meeting with the president of a US company interested in investing in the tourism industry on the Penghu Islands.
KMT Legislator Lin Pin-kuan (林炳坤) from Penghu County and a keen advocate of casinos, said he would within a few days table more amendments to the Offshore Islands Development Act to legalize casinos on the outlying islands.
Chang said it was better that legislators propose the amendments rather than the Executive Yuan.
The possible introduction of casinos to Taiwan's outlying islands has been a controversial issue since 1988. Advocates say casinos would boost tourism and stimulate the economies of remote areas -- creating more jobs and tax revenues -- while objections have focused on issues of public order and morality.
Several civil groups and people opposed to the legalization of gambling swiftly condemned the proposal, saying that the DPP government was worse than the KMT as far as this issue was concerned.
"If the new government's economic policy is to attract tourists with gambling, then [the government] is sinking too low and degrading itself," the groups' joint statement said.
The statement said that even the KMT government upheld an anti-gambling policy out of concern over public order and safety, despite intensive lobbying by interested parties. "Why has the DPP government become so keen to rake in ill-gotten profits?" it asked.
The names on the statement included the Life Conservationist Society (
The statement stressed that, citing the experience of other countries, legalized gambling would cause crime rates to rise.
The groups also said casinos offer no economic benefits. They cited US research data which found that for every dollar earned by casinos, taxpayers pay three dollars in social welfare expenditures necessitated by the effects of gambling.
Chen Yueh-fong (陳玉峰), dean of the General Education Center at Providence University (靜宜大學), who also signed the statement, said the government must carry out a further assessment of the potential advantages and disadvantages of allowing the establishment of casinos.
"There is still room for discussion. I wonder whether the government has carefully evaluated [the proposal's] possible social impact," he said in an interview with the Taipei Times.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS