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• Publication Date：01/10/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today

Thirty Taiwan hospitals have been authorized to submit applications directly to the National Immigration Agency on behalf of their potential mainland Chinese clients for entry into Taiwan specifically for the purpose of health checkups or cosmetic surgery, the Department of Health said Jan. 9. Mainland citizens granted entry under the new initiative recently announced by the government will be allowed to stay in the country for up to 15 days per visit.

Taiwan rail passenger numbers for the first 11 months of 2011 totaled 786.88 million, topping the figure for the whole of the previous year, with the daily average amounting to a record high of 2.36 million, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Jan. 6. The Taipei Metro System saw the highest average daily ridership at 1.54 million. Seat occupancy on lines operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration stood at 63.9 percent, up 4.2 percentage points from the same period a year earlier, while that on the Taiwan High Speed Rail reached 51.6 percent, up 2.7 percentage points, according to the MOTC.

Eight new investment projects in Taiwan’s science parks, valued at NT$1.63 billion (US$54.25 million), were approved Jan. 9, including four in the Hsinchu Science Park, two in the Southern Taiwan Science Park and two in the Central Taiwan Science Park, according to the National Science Council.

The number of ROC citizens who have registered to return to vote in the presidential and legislative elections Jan. 14 has hit a record low of just over 4,300, according to Central Election Commission statistics. The Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission noted the reason lies in the fact that the number of overseas Taiwan nationals returning to the country to complete household registration has doubled over the last five years, with more than 50,000 doing so every year since 2006 for a total of over 250,000. Officials explained this is mainly due to the attraction of the National Health Insurance system, as well as the fact that the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act was revised in 2009 to lower the maximum rate from 50 percent to 10 percent. (SB)