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.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to