Three foreigners entering Taiwan for the first time in order to work here were turned back after the country’s animal and plant quarantine authority seized ham from them at airports and slapped each of them with a fine beyond their ability to pay. As the impacts of COVID-19 recede, Taiwan’s authorities are stepping up efforts to prevent African swine fever (ASF) from entering the country and, in the past two months, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine has seized ham from five foreigners at airports who were unaware of Taiwan's laws that ban bringing pork products from restricted areas, according to a National Immigration Agency (NIA) press release . The bureau slapped each of them with a NT$200,000 (US$6,600) fine. Three of the five, who had applied to work in Taiwan for the first time, were denied entry because they were unable to pay the heavy fine on the spot. The other two of the five, including another migrant worker and a business person coming to...
Prosecutors charged a man named Chen (陳) with homicide for allegedly strangling a Malaysian student in Taipei City last month, reports said Tuesday (Nov. 29). The 24-year-old woman named Tsai (蔡) was studying at Ming Chuan University and worked as a model and social media streamer. On Oct. 13, Chen allegedly demanded Tsai return NT$99,999 ($3,200) he had given her earlier the same day to launch a brand, but when she refused, he suffocated her with a cushion and strangled her, according to phone conversations and camera footage tracked down by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office. When he returned home to Yingge in New Taipei City, he told his relatives he wanted to end his life, the Liberty Times reported. They alerted the police who only found out about Tsai’s death when they questioned Chen about his motives for suicide. He later changed his story, saying he had only wanted to scare Tsai, not kill her. Because of his inconsistencies and the reason for t...