Communication Channels

Applications Welcome For Overseas Youth Vocational Training Classes.

The Overseas Youth Vocational Training Program from May 15 to June 30 will accept applications for classes scheduled to begin November 15th.

Classes will be sponsored by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission and the Ministry of Education. At the National Pingtung Institute of Agriculture, subjects will be offered in agriculture and forestry management, food processing, and animal husbandry and medicine. At the Kaohsiung Senior Vocational School, subjects offered will be electronics repair and maintenance. At Feng Chia University, classes will be offered in air conditioning equipment repair and maintenance, electric machinery, construction, textiles and garments, electronics, electronic calculators, mechanics, as well as accounting, international trade, and management. At Chinese Culture University, classes will be offered in home economics and cooking.

All overseas Chinese and descendants of Chinese between the ages of 16 and 30 (age limit is 35 for home economics) are eligible and may apply to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission. Applicants should have lived abroad or in Hong Kong or Macao for over five years and should hold re-entry visas effective for over two years. Applications can be made in groups or individually.

Each class lasts a year and a half, to consist of four quarters.

Tourist Information Hot Line Provides All-Day Services.

To assist visitors to Taiwan, a tourist information telephone hot line was established on April 2 this year.

The information hot line office is located in the Tourism Bureau's Tourist Service Center on the second floor at Sung Shang Airport in Taipei. Services provided by the hot line include general domestic tourist information, tourist complaint handling, translation, emergency and accident assistance, and lost-and-found services. Languages used at present, besides Mandarin Chinese, are English, Japanese, and Cantonese.

The Tourist Information Hot Line operates year-round. Personnel are on duty from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. From 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. the following morning, a telephone answering machine enables callers to record their questions and telephone numbers so that a specialist can call them back in the morning.

The hot line office is equipped with an IBM-5550 microcomputer stored with 19 categories of tourist information, including domestic transportation time-tables and information on tourist hotels, scenic areas, and upcoming cultural and folk activities. ROC citizens may also take advantage of the service in planning domestic tour itineraries.

The hot line number is (02) 717-3737.

Young Overseas Students May Apply For Special Passports.

The Bureau of Entry and Exit has announced that "young overseas students" wishing to return home may apply to the various Ministry of Foreign Affairs foreign representatives for special passports. The measure is designed to smooth procedures for young overseas students wishing to return home. Should there be no problem regarding military service, they may leave the country again through normal procedures.

The Bureau said many young overseas students who are younger than 16 often leave the country on their parents' passport and with a tourist visa. When the parents return, they bring with them their pass ports, leaving the child overseas without proper official personal identification.

Those whose passports are lost or expire overseas should apply for short-term special passports.

Regulations Relaxed For Those Exchanging Currency Upon Leaving the Country.

The Central Bank of China has revised its rules regarding foreign currency exchange for those leaving the country, after reviewing the needs of ROC nationals going abroad on business and pleasure.

The new rules increase the upper limit of pocket money from US$2500 to $3000 for those leaving to visit relatives, to work overseas, and for overseas students. Those leaving on official business or to receive training may exchange up to US$300 per day of their stay overseas, up from $250. Tourists may exchange up to $200 of their planned stay overseas, up from $150.

ROC Customs Will Waive Business Taxes On Gold And Publications.

In coordination with the new value-added tax, the customs office has suggested to the Ministry of Finance that travelers bringing gold, travelers' checks, and publications into the country not have to pay a business tax. Businessmen bringing in goods exceeding the duty-free limit shall pay a straight customs tax on business goods. All relevant information will be input into computers for use by the government tax office.