While "betel nut beauties" in Taoyuan County continue to protest against a new policy prohibiting the exposure of their breasts, bellies and buttocks, police in Hsinchu City have launched a crackdown on those who attract business by wearing skimpy clothes at their betel-nut stands, local media reported yesterday.
Due to fierce competition, many betel-nut-stand operators have employed young women to sell their products in bikinis or thongs.
PHOTO: LEE HSIN-HUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
In response, the Taoyuan County Government announced on Monday a "three nos" policy which prohibits the exposure of betel-nut beauties' breasts, bellies and buttocks.
The government's plan, however, triggered a backlash from the betel-nut industry.
One Taoyuan betel-nut beauty, nicknamed Hsiao Ju (
"I have a beautiful body, and I also love to show my pretty clothes to the customers. What's wrong with that?" Hsiao Ju was quoted by a Chinese-language newspaper as saying yesterday.
The Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters protested the regulations in front of the Taoyuan County Hall yesterday morning. Members of the group showed their navels to the cameras, shouting slogans such as "My belly button is guaranteed harmless and it's very cute" and "My body, my job, my own business."
Collective chairwoman Wang Fang-ping (王芳萍) said the government has a double-standard when it comes to betel-nut beauties.
"All the automobile exhibitions or computer shows have hired young women who dress sexy to attract business. No one has any objection to that," Wang said.
"Even popular entertainers such as A-Mei [
However, Deputy County Commissioner Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井) said yesterday that as much as 90 percent of parents in Taoyuan support the "three nos" policy and that the county government will be firm on enforcing the regulations.
Liao also took the murder of a betel-nut-stand operator as an example, saying that the operator was killed by a teenager because he tried to stop the boy from touching a betel-nut beauty's buttocks.
"How can showing butts be OK?" Liao asked.
"[The women] should definitely cover the front of their bodies," Liao said, adding, however, that it's all right for them to show their backs.
In Hsinchu City, police have launched a crackdown on the betel-nut industry in response to the "three nos."
According to the Hsinchu City Police Department, authorities arrested more than 480 betel-nut beauties and their employers between January and last month for violating the Teenagers' Welfare Law (少年福利法), the Social Order Maintenance Law (社會秩序維護法), the Road Traffic Management and Punishment Law (道路交通管理處罰條例), the Business Registration Law (商業登記法) and other regulations.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
RSS