Two amendments to the ROC Criminal Code, stiffening punishments for drunken driving, were approved May 31 by the ROC Legislature. Under the revised law, a breath alcohol content of at least 0.25 milligrams per liter, or blood alcohol level of more than 0.05 percent, is considered driving under the influence and will face a minimum of two months imprisonment. Furthermore, those causing serious injuries while DUI are liable to up to seven years in prison, and three to 10 years for causing death.
A law to establish the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare was passed May 31 by the ROC Legislature. Personnel for the new ministry, which is expected to be operational in six months, will be drawn from the Ministry of the Interior and the Department of Health. The MHSW will consider recruiting extra staff to safeguard food safety and deal with epidemics, the DOH said.
International experts will be invited to form a consultative group to help promote Taiwan culture internationally, the ROC Ministry of Culture announced May 31. Possible advisors are former French Culture Minister Jack Lang, former Frankfurt Book Fair president Peter Weidhaas, International Digital Publishing Forum executive director Bill McCoy, U.K. Business Ambassador for the creative industry and chairman of the London Design Festival Sir John Sorrell, and resident conductor of the German Opera on the Rhine Chien Wen-pin.
A group of 18 professors and graduate students from National Chung Hsing and Tamkang universities participated in a seminar on the defense of the ROC’s Nansha (Spratly) Islands in the South China Sea and visited Taiping Island. They returned May 28 from their eight-day trip organized by the Ministry of National Defense.