Panama’s former ambassador expressed regret at not raising his voice more when Panama severed ties with Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/18
By: Central News Agency

TAIPEI — Panama’s former ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan), Alfredo Martiz Fuentes, has

expressed regret at not raising his voice more when Panama severed ties with Taiwan and voiced his affection for Taiwan’s people.

Panama announced its decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing on June 13 Taipei time.

While Taiwan received little warning of the move, there were signs that Panama was considering a shift, including when it did not send a new ambassador to Taiwan after Martiz left on April 30 to take over as his country’s head of social security.

In a letter linked on his Twitter feed early Sunday, Martiz said he was at fault for not raising his voice when learning of the severance of diplomatic ties between the two countries.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Timeas
Date: Jun 18, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Reducing the government subsidy for the Taiwan Association of Retired Firefighters could cause people

to die of frustration, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday.

“The association’s mission is not over. It offers the government assistance,” Wu said at a ceremony in New Taipei City marking the association’s fifth anniversary.

“However, the government does not seem to treat firefighters with much respect,” he said.

The association was founded in 2012 to help the government facilitate rescue missions.

Former minister of the interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) promised to the association a NT$2 million (US$65,830) subsidy every year, but President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration cut the subsidy to NT$280,000, which could cause people to die of frustration, Wu said.

He attributed the cut to the NT$890 billion budget the government has earmarked for the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, which he said “lacks vision.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-06-17

Agriculture officials say that they will continue investigating the case of three Taoyuan fish ponds

infected with Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV).

Taiwan is the sixth country to report infection with TiLV. Officials conducted tests on several fish ponds in Taoyuan after thousands of fish suddenly died at a local fish farm two weeks ago. The testing confirmed the presence of TiLV. The virus does not affect humans, but it can devastate fish stocks.

For the past two weeks, local agricultural authorities have been monitoring the infected ponds and enforcing a biological quarantine around them.

Earlier in the week, local authorities and the Council of Agriculture took samples from tilapia ponds located in a 3km radius around the infection sites. Test results are expected next week at the earliest.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/18
By: Central News Agency

A total of 133 children and parents from 57 multicultural families in Taiwan will embark on trips to the

parents’ home countries this summer under an annual program promoted by the government, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said Saturday.

The program is aimed at encouraging the young people to understand the home countries of their non-Taiwanese parents and broaden their international horizons, the agency said.

This year, participants will depart for 14-day tours in separate groups to Cambodia, China, Honduras, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam in July, according to the NIA.

Among them is Chang Kuang-wu (張況舞), who will visit Nepal to experience the life of the Sherpa people in the Himalayas, who are known for their mountaineering skills.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 18, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter, with CNA

A group of doctors yesterday decried a Taichung Prison directive that requires former president Chen

Shui-bian (陳水扁) to present medical records issued by doctors outside his medical team, saying the move has infringed upon Chen’s freedom to choose his medical staff.

The prison on Thursday issued a directive that Chen, who is on medical parole from a 20-year jail sentence for corruption, has to apply to the prison for leave when he wants to go outside his residence, after the former president violated several restrictions imposed by the Taichung Prison while at a fundraising dinner in Taipei last month.

Chen should present a diagnosis report from a second medical team when he next requests a medical parole extension, the directive added.

Chen’s three-month parole period is due to expire on Aug. 4.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-06-16

The US commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) is in line with its national interest. That’s the

word from Stanley Kao, Taiwan’s representative in Washington.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed on Thursday that Washington is committed to Taiwan under the TRA. Secretary of Defense James Mattis echoed Tillerson’s position on a separate occasion. The TRA exists to regulate US relations with Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

Kao was invited to give a speech in Atlanta on Thursday titled “Taiwan-US Partnership Amid Changing Dynamics in Asia.” He said that the strong partnership between Taiwan and the US is based on their shared core values, such as freedom and democracy. Kao cited Taiwan’s high ranking in press freedom with organizations like Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders.  [FULL  STORY]

Case involves illegal NT$5 billion loan to overseas company: reports

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/16
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Prosecutors raided 13 homes and offices while summoning SinoPac Financial

Holdings (永豐金控) Chairman Ho Show-chung (何壽川) for questioning about alleged illegal loans worth NT$5 billion (US$164.7 million), reports said Friday.

Ho, 72, gained prominence as the head of Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Group (YFY, 永豐餘) and later ventured into the financial sector with SinoPac Financial Holdings, which includes Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行).

From October 2009, Grand Capital International Ltd., a company controlled 100 percent by a SinoPac affiliate, loaned NT$5 billion to J&R Trading Co., a business which existed only on paper, according to media reports.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Friday took to the road with 13 warrants to raid homes and offices in Taipei City and New Taipei City, while 23 suspects and witnesses, including Ho, were summoned for questioning, reports said. The interviews would focus on suspected violations of the Securities and Exchange Act (證交法).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/16
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Elaine Hou

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) A total of 233,000 seniors attended courses at 724 senior learning centers

around Taiwan in 2016, 66.8 percent of whom were women, according to statistics released by the government on Friday.

In 2016, there were 724 senior learning centers in Taiwan, an increase of 227 on 2015, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said, citing statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Those learning centers offered 6,691 classes, which were attended by 233,000 seniors, an 18.8 percent increase on the previous year, the DGBAS said.

Among those who took classes in 2016, women accounted for 66.8 percent, it added.    [FULL  STORY]