Monthly Archives: April 2016

Workers to get compensatory holiday for Labor Day

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Monday said that employers must give a compensatory holiday to workers for Labor Day (May 1) falling on a day off, such as Sunday this year, pay for the extra work if workers work, or face a fine of NT$20,000 to NT$300,000 for violating the Labor Standards Act.

According to the Labor Standards Act, a national holiday falling on a weekday is a day off, said Huang Wei-chen, deputy director of MOL’s Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment. By the same token, if a national holiday falls on a day off, such as Saturday or Sunday, then workers should be given a compensatory holiday.

For workers who work shifts, if a national holiday falls on a day of shift duty and therefore they cannot take the day off, employers will have to reach an agreement with them on whether they get paid for the extra work or get a compensatory holiday. As for when to take the compensatory holiday, it is to be decided between employers and workers.

For example, as this year’s Labor Day falls on Sunday, if workers take the day off, they can still ask their employers to give them a compensatory holiday, Huang said. In the same situation, shift duty workers can ask to take the day off, or work and then choose to be paid for extra work or to take a compensatory holiday, he added. [FULL STORY]

Taipei Metro at 20, now and then

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/18
By: Huang Li-yun and Kay Liu

Taipei Metro marked its 20th anniversary in March. Its network now

A testing accident in 1993.

encompasses five lines spanning 131.1 kilometers after starting with a single line of 10.5 km.

The attempt to simultaneously build the complete network starting in 1986 led to a decade of severe traffic congestion, which was one of the issues during the 1994 Taipei mayoral campaign. Accidents during testing of the first metro line a year earlier were also debated.

The country’s first metro system has faced some bumps in the road over the past two decades. One of them was caused by Typhoon Nari in 2001, when 16 underground stations were flooded, including a main control center in Taipei Main Station.

It took three months for Taipei Metro to resume full operations, and flood prevention measures were introduced in existing and new stations. [FULL STORY]

Experts advise on defense as threat from China rises

SEA AND AIR:Academics and lawmakers underlined the need for the nation to build up its submarine, cyberspace and fighter jet capabilities to defend itself

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 19, 2016
By: Aaron Tu / Staff reporter

Academics and lawmakers urged the incoming government of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to prepare the nation against cyberwarfare, as well as bolster the nation’s sea and air capabilities, following a Ministry of National Defense report released in September last year that showed China would complete building its capability to wage an all-out war against Taiwan by 2020.

The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) New Frontier Foundation also released national defense blue papers in 2014 and last year, which showed that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might have the capability to wage and win a massive war against Taiwan by 2020.

Ming Chuan University assistant professor of international affairs and diplomacy Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑) said that if war breaks out between Taiwan and China, the PLA might try to block Taiwan’s defense efforts through electronic, cyberwarfare and missile assaults, and that when Taiwan faces missile attacks, the key factor in its defense would be whether it has a sustainable air force.

Lin said submarines could stop the Chinese navy, and therefore should be a priority as Taiwan develops its defense capabilities. [FULL STORY]

50 ring members indicted for scamming Chinese nationals

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Yulin prosecutors on Monday said that they have indicted 50 members of a

File photo of prosecutor Huang Yi-hua

Taiwanese scam ring for committing fraud in China.

Yulin chief prosecutor Huang Yi-hua said that the 50 people set up telecommunications rooms in Taoyuan City and other areas between June 2013 and June 2014 to engage in phone scamming.

The ring obtained personal information of Chinese nationals through its members, Huang said. The ring members, posing as public security officers, would call their targets in China and accuse them of having involved in crimes such as “drug offenses and money laundering,” according to Huang. The calls would then be transferred to other ring members posing as other public security officers, who would proceed to con the targets into giving away information about their bank accounts under the pretext of making a police report, Huang added.

According to prosecutors’ investigations, the ring successfully scammed RMB 4.35 million (about NT$22 million) from Chinese nationals between 2013 and June 2014. [FULL STORY]

CNA photo of Ma-Xi meeting captures photojournalism awards

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/18
By: Sabine Cheng and S.C. Chang

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) A CNA photo of Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Xi Jinping (習

(By CNA photographer Chang Hsin-wei)

近平) projecting a vivid silhouette on a yellow wall during their historic meeting last year won two top prizes in the 2016 Taiwan Photo Journalism Competition on Monday.

Rather than simply showing the two leaders shaking hands, CNA photographer Chang Hsin-wei (張新偉) captured the shadows of the presidents of Taiwan and China from a unique angle that left ample room for the imagination, the jury said in a statement.

The jury said Chang’s photo merited the awards for both best journalistic photo and best news maker — a rare honor in the competition.

In the photo, Ma blocks out Xi as they walk side-by-side after an initial photo-op in Singapore on Nov. 7, 2015, but their full silhouettes are projected onto the wall, an interesting juxtaposition of the two men and their full shadows. [FULL STORY]

KMT legislators urge no repeat of deportee release

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 19, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday urged the government to

Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay, right, Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang, center, and Department of International and Cross-Strait Legal Affairs Tai Tung-li, left, scramble to prepare information during a chaotic press conference yesterday in Taipei. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

make every effort to avoid a recurrence of the perceived hasty release of 20 Taiwanese fraud suspects recently deported from Malaysia, which it said could impede Taiwan’s future obtainment of visa-free privileges.

The caucus held a news conference at the legislature, amid a growing public outcry over the government’s handling of the 20 Taiwanese suspects, who were released shortly after their deportation to Taiwan on Friday last week due to a lack of evidence, which is still in China’s hands and has yet to be referred to the Taiwanese authorities.

They are among 52 Taiwanese nationals charged with fraud in Malaysia last month.

“Many lawmakers had strongly demanded that the government defend its jurisdiction over Taiwanese nationals and the nation’s sovereignty. Then, without evidence, the government set these suspects free after their return. Where is the justice in this?” KMT caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) told the press conference. [FULL STORY]

Inspections of expired food treatment to begin in May: EPA

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) on Monday said it will launch inspections of expired food treatment in May to make sure food business operators follow related regulations.

The EPA, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), the Council of Agriculture, and representatives from the six municipalities jointly held a meeting to discuss the topics of expired food products and kitchen waste management mechanism and surplus food utilization.

According to EPA statistics, every year a total of about 13.000 tons of expired food products are treated as waste, with convenient stores, supermarkets and restaurants outputting most of the expired food products. Most of the food business operators hired waste management organizations to handle these expired food products for them, the EPA said.

EPA Department of Waste Management Director-General Wu Sheng-chung said the department will join hands with the MOHW to launch inspections of expired food treatment. The inspections will be carried out by local inspection units across the country, Wu added. [FULL STORY]

Taiwan in danger of becoming haven for fraudsters: KMT lawmakers

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/18
By: K.H. Wen and Flor Wang

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Several Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers warned Monday

Fraud suspects deported by Malaysia April 15.

that Taiwan could become a safe haven for its nationals suspected of fraud in China or other countries because of gaps in cooperation with Beijing and legal constraints at home.

They issued the warning two days after 20 Taiwanese nationals suspected of defrauding people living in China from a base in Malaysia were allowed to go free on arrival in Taiwan after being deported from the Southeast Asian country.

Taiwanese law enforcement officers said they had no choice but to release the suspects, who had been arrested in Malaysia in March, because of a lack of solid evidence of their involvement in criminal activity overseas.

Authorities in Beijing were trying to have the Taiwanese suspects deported to China rather than Taiwan, arguing that most of the victims were people in China. [FULL STORY]

Taiwan boosts Japan earthquake relief aid

Taiwan Today
Date: April 18, 2016

The Taiwan government is stepping up efforts to assist Japan in the wake of the

A rescue team comprised of 30 volunteers from the Fire Department under the New Taipei City Government in northern Taiwan stands ready to assist relief efforts in Japan if requested to do so. (CNA)

magnitude-6.5 and 7.3 earthquakes that struck Kumamoto Prefecture April 14 and 16 on the country’s Kyushu Island, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs April 16.

President Ma Ying-jeou announced the same day that the Taiwan government would donate a further US$500,000 to Japan, in addition to an earlier aid contribution of US$92,000.

“The aim is to help authorities in Japan reconstruct the quake-hit area and help those affected rebuild their lives as soon as possible,” the MOFA said in a statement.

“The Taiwan government has also informed the Japan government that search and rescue teams from Taiwan stand ready to provide assistance if needed.” [FULL STORY]

Ko said Ma behind Farglory: councilor

‘CONTEMPTIBLE’:A DPP official said that the mayor was enraged and choking back tears when he made the accusation, which the Presidential Office and Farglory denied

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 19, 2016
By: Lu Heng-ching and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, second right, provides an update on the ongoing review progress of two controversial property development projects during a Democratic Progressive Party city council meeting in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

of rendering clandestine protection to Farglory Group (遠雄集團) over its scandal-prone Taipei Dome project, a Taipei city councilor said yesterday.

Taipei City Councilor Chang Mao-nan (張茂楠) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said Ko made the accusation when he met with the DPP’s council caucus earlier yesterday to discuss the dome’s future.

Ko appeared enraged during the meeting, Chang said, adding that Ko at one point was choking back tears and pounding on the table, saying: “Behind Farglory, there is President Ma Ying-jeou, watching its back.”

Ko was quoted by Chang as saying that the city government’s struggle with Farglory has been protracted because he had “insisted on justice and fairness” as a bottom line from which he “will not retreat,” and called Ma’s alleged protection of Farglory “contemptible.” [FULL STORY]

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