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Today's biggest stories from around Taiwan.
Agreement to revise the legal voting age to 18 years old in Taiwan
Legislators are on track to revise the legal voting age in Taiwan from 20 years old to 18 years old, United Daily News reports.
The Internal Administration Committee of the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s parliament, is reviewing a proposed amendment to the Referendum Act today. The amendment, which at this stage enjoys bipartisan support, will be sent for a second reading after it passes the review.
Taiwanese arrested in Spain for telecom fraud
The Spanish and Chinese police arrested a group of telecom fraud suspects in a joint operation in Spain on Dec. 13, and 39 Taiwanese citizens were among the 240 arrested, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The group, which consisted mostly of Chinese, have allegedly made phone calls impersonating Chinese law enforcement personnel and caused "significant losses" for people in China, China Radio International reports. MOFA has instructed the Taiwan representative office in Madrid to help the Taiwanese suspects when being questioned by Spanish police, based on principles of reciprocity, dignity and upholding human rights, CNA reports. The investigation is ongoing and the number of suspects is expected to increase. It is the latest in a series of international telecom fraud cases involving Taiwanese this year.
Euthanasia response from Taiwan president
Fu Ta-jen (傅達仁), a retired popular sportscaster, wrote a letter to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Dec. 2, calling for the government to pass a mercy killing law, which would make Taiwan the first country in Asia to legalize euthanasia. Tsai replied to Fu on Dec. 13, and Fu posted the letter on his Facebook page. In the response, Tsai said she places great importance on the topic of mercy killing and had directed the Executive Yuan to handle the matter.
Euthanasia is currently illegal in Taiwan. Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said that Taiwan would start evaluating mercy killing after the implementation of the Patient's Self-determination Right Act, which was passed by the Legislative Yuan this January but will not come into effect until 2019, Liberty Times reports.
Taiwanese smartphone brand to rank No.2 in VR industry
Taiwanese smartphone brand HTC Corp. (宏達電) is expected to rank as the second highest seller worldwide in the virtual reality (VR) industry this year, according to market information advisory firm Canalys. The firm's Dec. 12 report forecasts shipments of the HTC Vive, the first VR headset produced by HTC, will be 500,000 units for the year, second to 800,000 units by Sony’s PlayStation VR. Successful discounts over the holidays in the U.S. helped lift HTC sales, CNA reports. Being the market leader in its category in China is also a major factor for HTC. According to Canalys, shipments of VR headsets worldwide are expected to top 2 million units in 2016 and reach 20 million by 2020.
The priest who stands by the LGBT community
Chen Si-hao (陳思豪), a Taiwanese Presbyterian minister, was featured in an article by independent online news service The Reporter talking about why he supports same-sex marriage and LGBT rights. Twenty years ago, Chen says, like many other religious people he opposed the LGBT community. However, this has changed after he got to know the LGBT community.
On legalizing same-sex marriage, he believes religion and law are separate. Regarding homosexuals being criticized in the Bible, Chen thinks that one should not perceive the Bible “word by word” but also understand when the Bible was written and the “spirit” of the Bible in order to apply it to different times and cultures.
Chen says he is constantly criticized by his peers, but stated that he will not back down from standing with what he believes in. Chen often shares his opinions and stories on his Facebook page.
Editor: Edward White