A plan to change the numbering system for Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) and Alien Permanent Resident Certificates (APRC) — so they have the same format as Republic of China national identification cards — was yesterday praised by foreign chamber representatives, who said it would make their lives in Taiwan more convenient.
“The policy makes more people feel that Taiwan is their home,” AmCham Taipei president Leo Seewald told the National Immigration Agency’s promotional event.
Starting on Jan. 2, the numbers on ARC and APRC cards, which are now two letters and eight digits, would be changed to one letter and nine digits.
Photo: CNA
The new measure would enable foreign residents in Taiwan to make online purchases, book tickets, and register online, all of which can be challenging due to the current numbering differences.
Calling the inconsistent card numbering an issue of “sustainability and prosperity,” Seewald said the problem has been continuously raised by its members in the chamber’s annual business climate survey.
The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan has been studying the issue since 2010, chief executive Freddie Hoeglund said, adding that he is happy to see it resolved.
“It will provide us easier access to e-commerce platforms,” Hoeglund said.
However, some time would be needed to ensure that the program is running well, Hoeglund added.
While redesigned information systems of government agencies are likely ready to go, the private sector might need more time to adapt to the changes, he said.
The change would affect about 871,006 ARC holders and 20,408 APRC holders, National Immigration Agency statistics showed.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS