Taiwan News: Tsai Calls on the Public to Report Suspected Child Abuse
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Tsai calls for public to report child abuse
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is urging the public to report suspected cases of child abuse after several cases have been highlighted by media in recent weeks, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said on Thursday.
Huang said the president is calling on members of communities to be vigilant about reporting child abuse. He added that Tsai’s administration submitted a draft amendment to Taiwan’s Criminal Code last September which aims to raise penalties for abuse offenses.
The comments come shortly a 19-month-old child in Tainan was fatally beaten to death by her teenage mother and by other relatives. Media also reported on a case of daycare abuse in New Taipei and a video of a man, sensationalized as “Meatball Dad” by some media outlets, beating his 12-year-old son and wife after his son did not bring him hot sauce from a street stall.
Three adults were detained in the Tainan case on Thursday while the mother of the child was referred to juvenile court, according to CNA.
Under the draft amendment, the abuse of a minor under the age of 16 would result in a prison sentence of six months and five years, should it result in impaired mental or physical health. If the minor is severely injured as a result of abuse, the penalty would be five to 12 years in prison, per the draft bill. If a child dies due to abuse, the offender would receive a prison sentence of 10 years to life.
Taiwan’s health ministry also submitted a plan to help prevent child abuse at the meeting, including increasing government visits to homes where abuse is suspected and hiring more social workers, according to Cabinet spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka.
Taiwan objects to UK service rules proposal
Taiwan is objecting to the United Kingdom’s proposed post-Brexit rules for managing trade in services, according to a document which was viewed by reporters on Wednesday.
The EU has represented Britain at the World Trade Organization since the WTO was founded in 1995. Britain submitted its own proposed WTO schedules last month, which determine how it will approach trade in goods and services with its partners.
Although Britain has claimed the changes are technical in nature, Taiwan said the changes went beyond being purely technical and requested negotiations with Britain at the WTO.
According to the document, Taiwan said the proposed schedules would leave it with less market access in financial services and aircraft leasing. It asked Britain to delete several clauses which it deemed not relevant or necessary.
TSMC announces Q1 sales downturn
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) said on Thursday its 2019 first quarter consolidated sales could fall 22 percent from the final quarter of 2018.
TSMC, which makes chips for iPhones and is the largest contract chipmaker in the world, is expected to post US$7.3 billion to US$7.4 billion in sales from January to March of 2019, senior vice president and CFO Lora Ho (何麗梅) said at an investor conference. Sales had previously been estimated to fall between 10 and 20 percent.
The announcement, which caught investors off guard, stems from a downturn in global economic growth and adjustments in inventory, Ho said.
Other news from the region:
- A survey by Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) shows that about 75 percent of Taiwanese do not accept China’s definition of the so-called “1992 consensus.” (CNA)
- Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), responding to scrutiny from opposition lawmakers, now says he can fulfill one of his 12 campaign promises – improving the city’s roads. (Taipei Times)
- The first plant to be grown on the moon by humans, a cotton seed which sprouted on China’s Chang’e 4 lunar lander, has died. (CNN)
- Macau denied Hong Kong democracy activist Yvonne Leung, a leader in the 2014 Umbrella Movement, entry to the city on Wednesday. (Hong Kong Free Press)
- Wu Chien-pao (吳健保), a former Tainan County council speaker wanted for baseball match fixing, has been arrested in the Philippines in a joint operation between Taiwan and Philippines law enforcement agents. (CNA)
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Editor: Nick Aspinwall (@Nick1Aspinwall)
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