Society

Harsher penalties for illegal abortions, Taiwan justice ministry proposes

Taiwan Ministry of Justice HQ sign
Society 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice intends to increase penalties for illegal abortions, as current fines are out of date, the MOJ announced this week. According to the MOJ proposal, the fine for women who have abortions outside legal parameters allowed under the Genetic Health Act will be increased from NT$3,000 (US$94) to NT$80,000 (US$2,505). For those who provide an illegal abortion for profit, the fine will increase from NT$15,000 (US$470) to NT$500,000 (US$16,656). If the procedure results in the death of

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Taiwan’s fertility rate second lowest in the world: abortions are double the number of live births, advocacy group claims

population birth and death rate chart
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Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , ,

Taiwan has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, and one of the highest rates for abortion, it was revealed at a press conference by pro-life pregnancy support and advocacy group Pro Femina, Friday, July 5. Pro Femina urged the government to address Taiwan’s high abortion rate. Government agencies have often weighed in on the problem of low fertility rates, which have at times been flagged as a national security issue. In a recent report, the National Development

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Taiwan railway employee YouTuber accused of poor service attitude

Chiu holding a gun during YouTube broadcast
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Phillip Charlier 0 Comment

Taiwan Railways Corporation has issued two warnings to a deputy station master after he was accused of “poor service attitude” towards customers, including posting videos of railway passengers breaching regulations, and responding to online criticism by pointing a BB gun at the camera. The Deputy Station Master of Chaozhou Train Station in Pingtung County, named Chiu, first came to public attention when he began uploading videos of passengers breaching regulations on his personal YouTube channel. Members of the public who

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5 foreigners charged after brawl erupts in Kaohsiung City convenience store

man laying on zebra crossing after being punched
Society 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment

Five men were sent to the district prosecutor to face charges of assault, and one also faces a charge of sexual assault, following a drunken brawl in a convenience store apparently triggered when one of the men touched a Taiwanese woman. According to media reports today, June 9, two British men, aged 24 and 26, a 28-year-old German man, two Moroccan men, aged 29 and 32, and a 21-year-old Taiwanese woman went to a convenience store to chat after leaving

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High school athlete in hospital after bravely rescuing elderly man from burning house

high school student in hospital
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Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A high school student is recuperating in hospital after running into a burning building multiple times to rescue the elderly occupant in Toufen City, Miaoli County, yesterday, May 29. The second-year high school student, named Lin, was out to get breakfast when he noticed thick smoke pouring out of a house at around 4:30 am. Lin informed a convenience store clerk to call the fire department before responding to banging sounds coming from inside the house. Lin entered the house

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Police officer found not guilty of fatal shooting during car chase in New Taipei City

car after chase and shooting
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Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A police officer was declared not guilty of the fatal shooting that occurred in New Taipei City at a second trial over the March 2022 incident. According to the prosecution, at around 10:00 pm on March 22, 2022, a man named Lin was driving a Mercedes Benz sedan carrying his girlfriend and two male friends in Zhonghe District. A police officer named Zhang noticed that the car had obvious impact damage on the left side, and ran a check on

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Nanny and her sister charged for fatal abuse of 1-year-old child

sisters charged in fatal child abuse case
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Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Two sisters have been formally charged after a months-long investigation into the abuse and death of a one-year-old child placed in their care late last year. According to the investigation, the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) placed the child in the full-time foster care of a registered nanny named Liu Tsai-hsuan at her home in Wenshan District, Taipei City, in September 2023. On December 24, Liu took the child to hospital claiming that he had choked on milk. The child

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Taiwan prosecutors find Elon Musk not guilty of instructing or inducing people to smoke marijuana

Elon Musk smokes pot on Joe Rogan show
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Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

The Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office has concluded that Elon Musk is not guilty of inducing others to smoke marijuana, following an investigation arising from accusations made against the American billionaire by lawyer Zoe Lee. On August 23, 2023, Lee, who serves as secretary-general of Taiwan’s Green Party, filed a lawsuit accusing Musk of smoking marijuana during a show aired online in 2018, spreading the notion that marijuana is harmless. Musk also loosened regulations to allow marijuana advertisements on his social

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Road Rage: Driver forces motorcyclist off road, gets shot with pepper gun

man shot with pepper projectile gun
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Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A man was shot five times with a pepper ball gun after he forced a motorcyclist off the road in a road rage incident in Kaohsiung City, it was revealed after a video of the incident was shared on social media, yesterday, October 30. A helmet-cam video uploaded to social media showed the driver of blue sedan cutting across traffic from the left lane to make a right-hand turn in Sanmin District at around 7:00 am on September 16. According

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Mother sentenced to prison for chaining 5-year-old in bathroom so she could go to work

5-year-old girl chain by neck in bathroom.
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Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A woman in Kaohsiung City has been sentenced to a three-month prison term for leaving her 5-year-old daughter chained by the neck in a bathroom while she went to work. According to the Kaohsiung District Court, on October 15, 2022, the 30-year-old single mother, named Lee, fed her daughter lunch, then tied a chain around her neck and attached the other end to a crossbar in the shower cubicle of her apartment’s bathroom. Lee then went to work. The girl

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Elon Musk reported to Taiwan prosecutors for promoting marijuana use

composite picture showing Elon Musk smoking pot and pro-cannabis advocates in Taiwan
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Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , , ,

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been reported to the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office on the accusation of seducing people to use drugs, putting prosecutors in the awkward position of being obliged to investigate the tech billionaire if prosecutors take recent statements of their Ministry of Justice seriously. The demand for prosecutors to investigate the well-known tech CEO was a response to a statement made by the Ministry of Justice earlier this month that teaching marijuana use on the Internet, “spreading

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