The government is to require certain uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to be equipped with a radio frequency identification (RFID) equipment following an amendment to the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) yesterday.
The purpose of registering the drones is to know who their owners are, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said, adding that owners would be punished if they contravene the act.
Simply having the registration number on the body of the drones is not enough, Chung said, adding that the government would be thinking like “stone-age people” if it only required the registration number be placed on the memory cards of the drones.
The government should be able to identify people controlling drones remotely using wireless electronic devices, he said.
The legislature’s Transportation Committee ruled that drone owners can only operate their devices after they acquire licenses from the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA).
Drones that can be remotely controlled must have RFID functionality if they are in a certain weight category, it said.
The rule is stipulated by the CAA to regulate the use of drones more effectively, the committee said, adding that it could also seek assistance from police to crackdown UAVs operated illegally.
Drone owners would be punished based on the way that they operate the drones, CAA Director-General Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) said, adding that failure to register their drones would be one of the offenses that call for a penalty.
The CAA would establish a registration platform so that people can use their health insurance cards, national ID cards or national ID certificates to register their drones the way people register their cars or motorcycles, Lin said.
The amendment also requires the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to stipulate the rules of enforcement governing the registration, certifications, maintenance and operation of drones, as well as qualifications of drone operators and responsibilities of drone manufacturers.
In related news, whether former CAA employees would violate the revolving-door policy for government workers should they choose to work in soon-to-be-established StarLux Airlines would depend on the interpretation from the government personnel authority, the CAA said.
The airline, founded by former EVA Air chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒), is reported to have offered a retired CAA aircraft inspector a management position.
“We have heard the report, but most of our inspectors are contractors and whether the Civil Servant Work Act (公務員服務法) applies to them is in question,” CAA Flight Standards Division Director Clark Lin (林俊良) said.
“We cannot make that judgement. We will seek interpretation from government personnel agencies on this matter after we have received the application from StarLux, which has yet to be established,” Lin said.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
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,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and