The Control Yuan yesterday launched an investigation into the alleged sex trade in Taipei’s “teahouses,” as the establishments draw greater attention after they were linked to a cluster of COVID-19 infections in Wanhua District (萬華).
Control Yuan member Lin Kuo-ming (林國明) said that local officials have been negligent in addressing the matter, after teahouses, known as “A-gong diam” (阿公店) in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), were shown to be the center of a COVID-19 cluster.
There are more than 100 such establishments in Wanhua, but most are registered as restaurants or eateries, despite employing hostesses to accompany customers for drinking, chatting and other services, which clearly fall outside of their designated business, Lin said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“As local authorities have not cracked down on such contraventions, a probe will be launched into the matter,” Lin said.
Although the teahouses along Wanhua’s streets and alleys are among the nation’s most famous, there are similar businesses on a smaller scale in other cities and towns.
In the past few years, officials have said that there has been an increase in the number of women from foreign countries such as China and Vietnam working as hostesses in teahouses, some of which provide sexual services.
Many are undocumented after entering the country on a working contract that they then breach or as part of a false marriage scheme, police said.
Former Taipei City councilor Tung Chung-yen (童仲彥), an advocate for the legalization of prostitution, has said that the Taipei City Government should establish a legal “red light” district in Wanhua, to regulate sex work and protect workers.
Such a district would also better safeguard public health during an epidemic, Tung said.
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
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
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,
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
RSS