Health officials visited several shops and restaurants in Taipei yesterday and found that despite the new tobacco regulations that take effect tomorrow, many business owners were still unprepared and could face heavy fines.
Department of Health (DOH) Deputy Minister Cheng Shou-hsia (鄭守夏) led a group of health officials from the local health department and the Bureau of Health Promotion through the streets of Ximending (西門町) to check shops, restaurants, karaoke bars and convenience stores for violation of the new Tobacco Hazard Prevention and Control Act (菸害防制法).
Under the new regulations, owners of establishments in which smoking is prohibited must display clear no smoking signs at the entrance. This would include offices with more than three people, government organizations, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, Internet cafes and karaoke bars.
In anticipation of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, one McDonald's restaurant placed a large inflatable “wealth god” at the front entrance to welcome visitors. However, Cheng pointed out that because the inflatable doll blocked the no smoking sign, McDonald's could be fined between NT$10,000 and NT$50,000 (US$1,500) once the new regulation takes effect.
Upon hearing this, restaurant staff hurriedly tried to stash the doll, causing a commotion in the restaurant.
“Some of the shops used transparent no-smoking displays, which are hard to see but still do not violate the law,” Cheng told reporters. “However, we hope they will display larger and clearer signs, so for the next step, we will send health officials to encourage them to change their signs.”
Cheng was referring to the Eslite shopping area that displayed a small, pink no smoking sign, which the health officials said was not obvious enough.
The health officials also pointed out that Starbucks needed improvement because its no smoking sign was dark green and printed on a transparent sticker, which the health officials said was not clearly visible.
Although stores with no smoking signs that are not clearly visible will not be fined, health officials will make numerous visits to encourage store owners to improve them, said Yu Po-tsun (游柏村), head of the bureau's Public Health Education Center.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS