Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On the 13th day of their strike, representatives of the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union failed to reach an agreement with the management at EVA Air to end the dispute, reports said Tuesday (July 2).

The outcome followed 11 hours of talks mediated by the Ministry of Labor.

While the Central News Agency reported a consensus had been reached about one of the issues, the union’s demand for no retaliatory measures against strikers, on the whole the talks still broke down, meaning the strike was likely to continue, the Liberty Times and the Apple Daily reported.

Last Saturday (June 29), flight attendants voted in favor of ending the strike, but against expectations, the two sides failed to sign an agreement expected later that day.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/02
By: Stacy Hsu

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) Taiwan's government has granted a "special student visa" to Li Jiabao (李家寶),

a Chinese student who is seeking political asylum, allowing him to stay in the country for another six months to "advance his knowledge."

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the government agency in charge of cross-Taiwan Strait affairs, announced the decision in a press release Tuesday, when Li's current student visa was due to expire.

"Li has expressed several times his hope of remaining in Taiwan for further studies," MAC Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in the press release. "The government has considered his wishes and decided to grant him the necessary assistance before his current study period ends."

Chiu said several meetings were held to discuss Li's case in an effort to find a suitable solution, and it was decided eventually to issue him a "special student visa" that would allow him to stay in Taiwan for six more months to continue his studies.    [FULL  STORY]

TOUGHER PENALTIES: The nation’s first case in which two passengers were fined for riding with a drunk driver happened in Hsinchu City, the National Police Agency said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 03, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Police on Monday caught 357 people nationwide on drunk driving charges as tougher penalties on

driving under the influence (DUI) came into effect, National Police Agency statistics showed yesterday.

Lawmakers passed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) in March.

The agency on Monday launched a nationwide crackdown on DUI that is to run through today.

The agency said 198 of the drivers had a blood alcohol level of more than 0.25 milligrams per liter (mg/L), adding that 62 were car drivers and 136 were motorcyclists.

Police fined 25 people traveling with the drunk drivers, issuing tickets of NT$600 to NT$3,000, the agency said.    [FULL  STORY]

UPI
Date: July 1, 2019 / 12:06 PM
By: Elizabeth Shim

China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said President Tsai Ing-wen's plan to stop in New York runs in opposition to Chinese policy. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

July 1 (UPI) — The Chinese government condemned Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday after Tsai said she would travel across a route that includes a stopover in New York during a visit to Caribbean countries.

Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing Tsai's decision to stop in New York runs in opposition to Chinese policy, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

"China has consistently opposed official exchange between the United States and Taiwan," Geng said. "This position is firm and clear."

Since Tsai assumed office, tensions have escalated between Taiwan and the mainland. China does not recognize Taiwan's sovereignty under its One-China policy, and Tsai has taken a stronger stand against Chinese military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 01 July, 2019
By: Natalie Tso

Joshua Wong (left) and Luo Wen-jia (right) at a videoconference on Monday[/caption]Joshua Wong (left) and Luo Wen-jia (right) at a videoconference on Monday[/caption]Joshua Wong (left) and Luo Wen-jia (right) at a videoconference on Monday[/caption] As the people of Hong Kong continue to protest on Monday against a controversial extradition bill, Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party held a videoconference with Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong.

On the 22nd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China, democracy activist Joshua Wong speaks with Democratic Progressive Party Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia via videoconference.

Joshua Wong is the secretary-general of pro-democracy group Demosistō. The 22-year-old was just released from prison in June for his role as a leader of the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests which called for universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

Wong says, “We are facing protests on the street and our freedoms are diminishing. We are very grateful to the people of Taiwan and their concern about the extradition bill in Hong Kong. Another major protest is under way in Hong Kong on the July 1 anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. Wong estimates about 500,000 people are demonstrating.
[FULL  STORY]

More than 260,000 passengers affected by strike

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/02
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

According to information released by EVA Air, it is estimated that from June 20 to July 12, affecting more than 260,000 passengers by strike, a new record for Taiwan's air transportation industry.

Click here for EVA Air flight cancellation information or visit the real-time EVA Air flight information website.

[Last update: July 2 at 0:25 am]6

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After failing to reach an agreement with EVA Air management, the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU) announced at 2:10 p.m. that its EVA Air flight attendant members would go on strike, starting at 4 p.m. on June 20.

Detailed information regarding flight cancellations can be found on the EVA Air website. Passengers can also call the EVA Air customer service hotline at 02-2501-1999 for more information.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/01
By: Chang Hsiung-feng and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said Monday that warnings

were issued to two food vendors for violating the new single-use plastic straw ban on the first day the rule took effect.

After inspecting 1,138 food vendors around Taiwan to check on compliance with the ban, warnings were given to a vendor in a food court located in New Taipei and to a fast food restaurant located in offshore Kinmen County, the agency said.

Under the new rule, establishments found violating the rule for the first time before June 30, 2020 will not be punished, but second and subsequent offenses will be subject to fines ranging from NT$1,200 (US$38.70) to NT$6,000, according to the EPA.

Taiwan launched the first stage of a ban on single-use plastic straws Monday as part of its efforts to cut plastic consumption.    [FULL  STORY]

FOOT-AND-MOUTH FIGHT: More than two decades after an outbreak of the disease forced a halt to the nation’s pork exports, the council celebrated a key milestone

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 02, 2019
By: Chien Hui-ju  /  Staff reporter

The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday announced that foot-and-mouth disease has been

eliminated from Taiwan, as no case had been detected in the past year, without vaccination, 23 years after an outbreak put a halt to the nation’s pork exports.

“I hereby announce that Taiwan, Penghu and Matsu have succeeded in ‘pulling the vaccine needles’ [prevention without vaccination],” COA Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) told a news conference in Taipei.

The council would apply by September for the nation to be removed from the World Organization for Animal Health’s (OIA) list of foot-and-mouth disease-free zones where vaccination is practiced, which would mean it could officially declare itself to be free of foot-and-mouth disease next year, he said.

The 1997 outbreak stopped the export of pork products to Japan, and in the years since then, the number of pigs raised in Taiwan fell from more than 10 million to about 5 million, while the number of pig farms plunged from about 25,000 to 7,200.    [FULL  STORY]

Japan Times
Date: Jun 30, 2019
By: Reuters

TAINAN, TAIWAN – Kitty Wong and Adolf Lim are tightening the screws on their future in Taiwan as they make the final touches to a hostel in the southern city of Tainan, that they hope will open its doors to vacationers next month.

The couple from Hong Kong came to Taiwan in search of a stress-free life after being disappointed with the fragmentation of society back in Hong Kong, along with the daily negativity that they found hard to escape. This is the third hostel they are opening since their arrival in 2016.

“The level of evil that you are dealing with is too high, I just see no way out,” Lim says, talking about how the Chinese Communist Party is clamping down on freedom in his hometown.

It is not only the pressure from the mainland that made him pack his bags, but also daily acts of frustration that drive a wedge in society.    [FULL  STORY]

CNA
Date: 30 Jun 2019

TAINAN: Kitty Wong and Adolf Lim are tightening the screws on their future in Taiwan as they make the final touches to a hostel in the southern city of Tainan, that they hope will open its doors to holiday-makers next month.

The couple from Hong Kong came to Taiwan in search of a stress-free life after being disappointed with the fragmentation of society back in Hong Kong, along with the daily negativity that they found hard to escape. This is the third hostel they are opening after arriving in 2016.

"The level of evil that you are dealing with is too high, I just see no way out," Yim says, talking about how the Chinese Communist Party is clamping down on freedom in his home town.

It is not only the pressure from the mainland that made him pack his bags, but also daily acts of frustration that drive a wedge in society.    [FULL  STORY]