The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday promoted the digitalization of governmental administrations and urged the public to apply for integrated-circuit (IC) cards before the end of the year during an "online identification" (
"By having this IC card, which is equivalent to an individual's online identification, the card owner is able to perform many types of online transactions with various government entities," Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) said.
"Individuals who apply for the card before the end of the year will not be required to pay an application fee," he said.
According to information released by the MOI, individuals can apply for the card through their local household registration offices.
"To date, 212 household registration offices nationwide provide IC-card registration services," Yu said.
"By next June, we hope to have 375 offices providing this service," he added.
Card users can pay income taxes, renew driver's licenses, pay phone bills and locate updates on labor insurance, Yu said.
"Government agencies such as the MOI, the Bureau of Labor Insurance, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance are IC-card program participants," Yu said. These agencies will offer over 100 online services.
To heighten online security, the MOI has devised a "digital signature" recognition formula, which is stored in the IC card of each individual.
"The system should prevent the identification of IC-card owners from being accessed and misused," said Minister without Portfolio Tsai Ching-yen (蔡清彥).
Tsai is also co-convener of the Executive Yuan's Science and Technology Advisory Group.
Tsai also announced the arrival of a "digital era" in Taiwan.
"Since early last year, the Executive Yuan began formulating a series of plans to turn Taiwan into a digitalized nation," Tsai said.
"As participation increases ... we hope to develop a more competitive economic and technological edge in the international community," he said.
An IC-card reader is required to use these new online services and and the reader can be purchased for NT$400 at selected electronic stores and all Chunghwa Telecom offices.
"The required computer program as well as other related information, can be found and downloaded online at http://moica.gov.tw," said MOI official Hsu Wen-yung (
"Since online services are available around the clock, people should learn to utilize the services to save time and energy," Yu said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
RSS