The legislature yesterday overhauled the country’s adoption system, recognizing government-licensed non-profit institutions as the sole legal channel for the adoption of children and adolescents, in a bid to prevent the sale of babies.
After drawn-out deliberation, the legislature unanimously amended the Children and Youth Welfare Act (兒童及青少年福利法), renaming it the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法).
Six months after the promulgation of the new act, placement of children and adolescents for adoption can now only be undertaken by parents or guardians through non-profit corporations or placement and educational institutes for children and adolescents which have received official authorization.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The act stipulates that parents or guardians must commission a legally designated institution to locate suitable couples.
Exceptions to the rules apply to two situations — when adoptees are given to close blood relatives or relatives by marriage or when a spouse adopts a child of his or her partner.
Currently, other than applying to registered adoption institutions, people can also seek to establish an adoption case through court proceedings.
The amended act allows judges to demand that adopters receive parenting lessons and undergo psychological assessments and tests for alcohol and drug dependence before a court ruling on an adoption case.
Child Welfare Bureau director Chang Hsiu-yuan (張秀鴛) said the current adoption system leaves open the possibility of black-market trafficking of babies.
Under the new legal framework, legal adoption institutions are required to visit the original family to assess the need to put a child up for adoption after a case is received and conduct a thorough assessment of the adoptive family before the child adoption is approved.
National adoption takes precedence over international adoption, the rules stipulated.
The amended rules also allow the ministry to set up regulations governing the establishment and management of adoption institutions and rules on the level of adoption fees.
People found operating adoption services without licenses could be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000 and have their names and institutions placed on a public blacklist.
The amendments also ban newspapers from publishing content deemed potentially harmful to the physical and psychological well-being of minors, including the description of rape, molestation, suicide and drug abuse, as well as words and photographs depicting violent or erotic subject matter.
The ban, however, does not apply when newspapers cite a public document issued by a judicial or administrative agency.
The amendments require all publications to be properly classified according to their content to protect children.
In addition, those who circulate Internet content deemed harmful to children without taking proper measures can be fined up to NT$500,000.
The amendments initially sparked debate over their possible impact on freedom of speech because the proposal presented by the Executive Yuan suggested banning newspapers from carrying any content that could have an adverse influence on children and adolescents, such as detailed descriptions and portrayals of crimes, violence and nudity.
Lawmakers resolved this controversy by requiring newspaper associations to draw up their own regulations governing the publication of content within a three-month period of the promulgation of the new law.
Additional reporting by CNA
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary