Whether or not Taiwan should pursue casinos as a way to boost tourism remains a matter open to discussion, Yeh Chu-lan (
Yeh told the legislature's Transportation and Communications Committee yesterday that she disapproved of casinos and said that their illegality prevented the ministry from pursuing gambling as a way to boost tourism.
Still, Yeh said, the issue remains open to debate.
Yeh has a long-standing record as a legislator of opposing casinos. She made her remarks after legislators yesterday urged the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to include casino development in the ministry's tourism promotion plans.
But KMT lawmaker Chang Fu-hsin (
Hsu Chin-yuan (
Hsu Su-yeh (許素葉), a KMT lawmaker, said that the ministry "lacked the guts" to push forward measures to establish casinos. "Most Taiwanese talk about morality as an excuse to reject casinos but always gamble themselves," Hsu said.
Yeh said she was "not against casinos as an element in all tourism projects," but added that "because gambling is still illegal, the ministry considers this to be an issue that requires further discussion."
But the KMT's Hsu said that it was very easy to amend the laws to allow casinos. "It is we who have the right to modify laws. As long as the ministry has the determination to promote casinos to support tourism, I don't see any problem with that," he said.
Yeh said that the possibility of setting up casinos was currently under evaluation by the Council of Economic Planning and Development. As to whether gambling should be legalized, that's a matter for the Ministry of Justice, Yeh said.
As for the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Yeh said she wasn't prepared to make gambling an element of tourism promotion campaigns.
"In fact, we don't necessarily have to rely on casinos," Yeh said.
"Many other countries have successfully developed their tourism industries without setting up casinos."
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS