■EMPLOYMENT
Retirement bill reviewed
The Legislative Yuan completed a preliminary review yesterday of a bill that would raise the mandatory retirement age prescribed in the Labor Standards Act from 60 to 65. The draft amendment, which cleared the legislature’s Sanitation, Environment, Social Welfare and Labor Affairs Committee, is still awaiting its second and third readings before it can be signed into law. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), a sponsor of the bill, said it is necessary to put back the retirement age of workers to strengthen the use of middle-aged and elderly human resources because the average life expectancy in Taiwan has increased to 76 and more older workers are staying in the labor market instead of retiring. The measure is also crucial to cope with the possible impact of the declining birth rate on the labor force, Yang said. Legislators Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍) and Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和), also of the KMT, said those who wish to retire early could still do so voluntarily even if the law is passed.
■CRIME
Bank founder indicted
Taipei prosecutors yesterday indicted Cosmos Bank founder and former chairman Hsu Sheng-fa (�?o) and 11 other bank staff on charges of embezzlement. Prosecutors requested a 10-year sentence for Hsu, while his son, former vice chairman Hsu Sen-rong (�?a), and daughter, former chairwoman Hsu Juan-juan (�?S), face eight and six years in prison respectively. The family’s lawyers issued a statement in response to the indictments saying that all transactions completed by Cosmos Bank and its sister corporation Cosmos Bills Finance Corp had followed proper procedures. The statement said that Hsu Sheng-fa had not directed any transactional activities at the bank and that government audits over the past years had found no irregularities. It said that all mortgage funds obtained by the bank had been used in investments that advanced the bank’s financial wellbeing and that interest incurred by these borrowed funds had been paid regularly by Cosmos’ parent group, Prince Corporate Group (太子關係企業).
■TOURISM
Cable car ceremony
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) officiated yesterday at a groundbreaking ceremony for a cable car system that will link Sun Moon Lake and the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village in Nantou County. Chang said the 1,825m long cable car system will help rejuvenate overall tourism development. The Sun Moon Lake Gondola, to be developed and operated by the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village under a build-own-operate project, is scheduled to be completed in 18 months at a cost of NT$720 million (US$23.76 million).
■HEALTH
Addicts center opens
The nation’s first employment service center for drug addicts who have undergone methadone treatment was inaugurated in National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan yesterday. Cheng Kung University Hospital officials said the center will help addicts find jobs to facilitate their return to a normal life. The hospital in conjunction with Tainan City government, and Tainan Prosecutors Office will run the center. Similar employment service centers will be set up at the Chi Mei Foundation Medical Center in Tainan County and Tainan Hospital in Tainan City in the future, the officials said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of