A women’s rights organization yesterday criticized the government for failing to afford women equal treatment in its special budget for a four-year economic stimulus plan aimed at addressing the economic crisis.
In a report to mark International Women’s Day, the Awakening Foundation said the Executive Yuan’s NT$500 billion (US$14.38 billion) plan, which has a job-creation component, ignored unemployed women.
The lion’s share of the budget has been allocated for construction projects, while NT$36.7 billion will go toward maintaining employment stability and helping students in financial difficulty continue their education, the report said.
Citing Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics employment figures for 2007, the foundation said nearly 70 percent of workers in the industrial sector — mining, manufacturing, power/fuel/water supply, pollution treatment and construction — were male. The percentage of female workers in those industries was less than half the percentage of male employees, the foundation said.
The civic group said most of the people being forced to take unpaid leave were production-line workers, in particular female workers. It said this finding was based on the calls it has received from people seeking assistance.
Single mothers often choose to work part time or at places that offer flexible hours because they need time to look after their children, the foundation said.
However, low-skilled jobs are usually the first to be cut in an economic downturn, it said. As a result, single mothers are usually the first victims of a recession.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
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