Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-03
By: CNA

An ROC Army major-general was removed from his post as chief of the Dongyin Area

Command over alleged sexual harassment.

Major General Yang Chia-chih is accused of sexually harassing female army officers in their quarters, after a night out drinking off-base.

A complaint was filed against Yang for inappropriately touching female officers.

General Chiu Kuo-cheng, Commander of the Army, was very angry at Yang’s drunken misconduct, and he ordered Yang’s immediate removal from his current post and for him to return to the army headquarters in Chungli pending investigation.

Yang’s vacancy in the interim was filled in by Major General Chen Tsung-wen, chief of staff at the army’s Matsu Defense Command.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/03
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, April 3 (CNA) The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned the public Friday to stay on the alert as the seasonal flu could rise during the Tomb Sweeping Festival weekend April 3-6 as more people travel to visit their families or go on vacation.

Although the number of flu cases this year has been smaller compared with previous years, it could worsen during the holiday period, the CDC cautioned.

Those planning to travel to the United States, Japan and Canada should especially pay attention to their personal hygiene due to flu outbreaks there, the agency said.     [FULL  STORY]

KPLU
By: Scott Neuman

U.S. F-18 fighter jets fly over the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)

during fly exercises in the Persian Gulf. A pair of this same type of aircraft landed in Taiwan, reportedly with mechanical problems. — Hassan Ammar AP

China is strongly protesting the apparent emergency landing of two U.S. Navy F-18 fighters at an airbase in Taiwan — the first time such an incident has occurred in three decades.

Beijing has long considered Taiwan part of its territory and the presence of U.S. warplanes there has caused unease.

“We have already made solemn representations to the U.S. side,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told a regular news briefing.     [FULL  STORY]

“We require the U.S. to abide by the ‘One-China Policy’ … to prudently deal with the relevant issue,” Hua added.

Media in Taiwan have portrayed the incident as a first since the mid-1980s.

‘DETERMINED’:The deputy speaker said she would not be dissuaded from running, while urging the party to start the nomination process soon to settle on a candidate

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 04, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday declared her intention to join the

Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary to provide a spark to the party’s lackluster presidential campaign.

Hung, who has spoken out in recent weeks about the reluctance of senior party members to announce their bids, said she would register as a nominee after the party’s new primary election system is set up.

The deputy speaker said she was “determined” and there would be “no turning back” on her decision to join the race.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/03
By: Claudia Liu and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, April 3 (CNA) A Republic of China Air Force soldier who took a photograph of a U.S.

F-18 fighter jet in the bunker and posted it on his Facebook page has been reprimanded, the Air Force Command said Friday.

The fighter jet was one of two U.S. Marine Corps. F-18C Hornets that made an emergency landing at an airport in southern Taiwan’s Tainan City after one of them encountered a mechanical problem on Wednesday afternoon.

Both fighters left the airport Friday afternoon after the mechanical problem was fixed.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-03
By: CNA

Two US F-18 fighters left Taiwan Friday afternoon after making an emergency landing at a

Taiwanese Air Force base two days earlier due to a mechanical problem with one of the aircraft, the ROC Air Force said.

US maintenance personnel arrived at the Tainan Air Force Base in southern Taiwan late Thursday and completed the work Friday morning. The two fighters left for their base in Okinawa after repairs were completed, an air force official said.

The fighters left at 1:12pm after passing safety checks, said Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Major General Luo Shou-he.     [FULL  STORY]

PHOTO FUROR:Images emerged on the Internet of an actress and her husband posing in the cockpit of a helicopter which contains classified weapons systems

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 04, 2015
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Five officers in an elite special forces unit face disciplinary measures and will be investigated

in a judiciary probe after a media storm erupted over television personality Janet Lee (李蒨蓉) showing off pictures of her and her husband sitting in the cockpit of an Apache helicopter at a restricted military base in northern Taiwan.

Lee uploaded several photographs of her posing with the US-made AH-64 attack helicopter on Facebook, leading to a furor because the aircraft is off-limits to visitors, as it contains classified weapons technology.

Images of the cockpit’s instrument panel were also published.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/02
By: Tsai Pei-chi and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) Taiwan has made great strides in combating corruption, ranking as the sixth least corrupt economy in the Asia-Pacific region this year, its best performance in 10 years, according to an annual survey report from the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) Ltd.

According to the PERC’s 2015 Corruption Perception Index published Wednesday, Taiwan received a score of 5 in a grading system with zero as the best possible score and 10 the worst. Last year, Taiwan was ranked the eighth least corrupt economy with a CPI score of 5.31, the Agency Against Corruption said Thursday.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-02
By: CNA

Several European companies have expressed interest in working with Taiwanese shipbuilders

on Taiwan’s submarine program, a senior military officer said Wednesday.

So far, more than 20 companies from Europe are interested in collaborating with their Taiwanese counterparts on an indigenous submarine program, said the vice chief of general staff Admiral Pu Tze-chun during a hearing of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

Some companies in the United States have also expressed interest in the program, he told lawmakers in response to questions on the issue.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 03, 2015
By: Huang Wen-huang, Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

The Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office concluded its investigation into allegations of

vote-buying in the Tainan City Council speakership election and charged eight suspects with violating the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), the Tainan City Court said yesterday.

The indicted are Tainan City Council Speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Chuo Hua-min (卓華民) of the KMT, Tsai Chi-hsin (蔡啟新) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), former councilor Yang Ming-ta (楊明達), independent Wu Chun-cheng (吳春成), Lin Tsung-pin (林聰彬), independent Kuo Hsiu-chu (郭秀珠), and Luo Chin-sheng (羅進生).

City councilors embroiled in the case, including independent Tainan City Councilor Kumu Hacyo, Councilor Tseng Wang Ya-yun (曾王雅雲) of the DPP, Councilor Lin Chih-chan (林志展) of the KMT, Hou Cheng-tsai (侯澄財) of the DPP, Tsai Su Chiu-chin (蔡蘇秋金) of the DPP , Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) of the DPP and Tang Bi-a (唐碧娥) of the DPP are to be investigated further, the office said.     [FULL  STORY]