POLITICS
E-vote system to launch
The Central Election Commission (CEC) is to introduce on April 10 an electronic system to facilitate the proposing of national referendums. The establishment of the system aligns with the provisions of the Referendum Act (公民投票法), which was amended in 2019 to require the government to create a mechanism for better solicitation of referendum proposals and the collection of signatures, the CEC said in a news release on Friday. Referendum campaigners would be able to use the system to create a Web site for people to sign up to petitions, it said. Those supporting a referendum proposal would be required to apply for a Citizen Digital Certificate for NT$250 and use a card-reader to upload their information along with a personal identification number and their national ID card number, to the Web site, the CEC said.
TRANSPORTATION
TPass renewal expanded
Starting on Friday next week, Taiwan Railway (TR) passengers would be able to use automated ticket machines at train stations across the nation to renew their “TPass” public transport passes, the operator said. All 432 machines can be used by passengers to renew their passes for another 30 days from their expiry date, it said. However, passengers are required to complete the process within 10 days before their pass expires, and it can only be extended on the same travel plan, it said. Passengers can only renew their TPass in the region their plan covers, it added. For example, “Taipei-New Taipei-Keelung-Taoyuan” TPass users can only renew their plans at TR stations in the four cities, it said. The TPass scheme was launched as part of a NT$380 billion (US$12.1 billion) post-pandemic economic recovery package passed by lawmakers in March last year. The 30-day unlimited transport pass can be used for railway, metro, bus, light-rail and ferry journeys, as well as YouBike rentals across multiple regions in Taiwan.
LEISURE
Taipei Zoo to raise prices
Taipei Zoo is to increase ticket prices from April 1 after Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) approved the move late last month. A regular ticket is to rise from NT$60 to NT$100, but Taipei residents can continue to pay the current price, the zoo said. Prices for concessionary tickets are to rise to NT$50 from NT$30, and discounted tickets for groups of 30 or more are to see a NT$28 increase to NT$70, it said. Taipei residents younger than 12 and senior citizens would continue to receive free access, it added. Meanwhile, ticket prices for the Taipei Zoo Education Center and shuttle train inside the zoo are to remain the same. The price increase would add about NT$41 million to the zoo’s coffers, which would be used to improve living conditions for the animals, it said.
CONSUMER
Heysong to hike prices
Taiwanese food and drink producer Heysong Corp on Friday announced price increases for several sports beverages and soda products starting on March 1. Apart from the Heysong-branded soda drinks, the company said it would, for the first time, raise the listed prices of its Fin-branded sports drinks and C&C-branded soda drinks due to rising raw material and transportation costs. The prices of the 330ml canned Heysong and C&C products would see the sharpest increase — 25 percent — to NT$25. The listed prices of 580ml and 975ml bottles of Fin drinks are to rise from NT$25 to NT$29 and from NT$35 to NT$39 respectively.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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