20 EVA Air flights canceled as flight attendants go on strike in Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/20
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

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

The cancellations include 16 departing from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), one leaving Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH), and three originally scheduled to arrive at TPE.

Detailed information about the 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: 2019/06/20
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) A total of 8,628 passengers were impacted by a flight attendants strike which started at 4 p.m. Thursday, following the collapse of management-labor talks earlier in the day and the cancellation of 22 EVA Airways flights, the carrier said.

Of the 36 scheduled EVA flights to depart and arrive Taiwan after 4 p.m., 22 flights will be canceled, while flights of its subsidiary, UNI Airways, will continue as normal, according to EVA Air.

There had been concerns that UNI Air, one of Taiwan's major domestic flight operators, would be caught up in the dispute as many EVA flight attendants also work on UNI Air flights.

Both airlines said they will prioritize UNI-operated local flights connecting Taiwan and its outlying islands, particularly flights from Taipei and Taichung to Matsu, as UNI Air is the sole operator on those routes.    [FULL  STORY]

DISRUPTION: A total of 8,628 passengers were affected by 16 canceled international flights, the airline said, but 14 were unaffected, as were all its domestic passengers

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 21, 2019
By: Lee Ya-wen, Kao Shih-ching and Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporters

EVA Airways (長榮航空) flight attendants yesterday went on strike after a round of employer-

employee negotiations broke down, with more than 8,000 passengers expected to be affected by midnight.

The main sources of contention between the carrier and the Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union remained a proposal to raise the daily allowance for flight attendants and an appeal, dubbed the “anti-freeloader clause,” by the union that non-union employees be barred from receiving benefits that the airline promises the union in negotiations.

EVA officials took a hard stance and refused to budge on the two items, issuing responses that were identical to those given two years ago when the union first raised the issues.

Citing the airline’s “unreasonable distribution” of revenue, union standing director Lee Ying (李瀅) said that EVA employees who have stuck with the airline through times of hardship, such as in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the US, and the 2008 to 2009 global economic crisis, have not been allowed to taste the fruits of the company’s steadily growing revenue over the past several years.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 19 June, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

Foreign minister Joseph Wu says Taiwan must deepen its ties with friendly nations in the face of pressure from

China. These include diplomatic allies as well as nations with shared values such as EU member states, the US and Japan.

Wu was speaking in a video played at the European Parliament on Tuesday.

Wu said that it would be a tragedy for democracy worldwide if Taiwan failed to defend its democratic system. Wu said Taiwan and the European Union are partners who share the core values of democracy, freedom, and human rights.

Wu expressed thanks to pro-Taiwan members of the European Parliament for their support. He also voiced hope for further cooperation that will advance Taiwan-EU relations.    [FULL  STORY]

The Epoch Times
Date: June 19, 2019
By: Eva Fu

Concerns over ideological infiltration from Beijing has led Taiwan’s lawmakers to speak out.

At a press conference on June 17, members of the self-ruled island’s unicameral legislature known as the Legislative Yuan told reporters that they wanted more transparency in the financial disclosures of “foreign political forces.”

Legislation

The legislators said that China’s infiltration in Taiwan was so pervasive that it can be observed in all levels: from religious settings, media, to education. They called for a law modeled after similar “foreign agent registration” laws in the United States and Australia to counter foreign political influence in the region.

They are planning to introduce legislation that would require entities that have connections with a government outside of Taiwan to disclose their funding sources.

Despite the island being a de-facto independent country with its own democratically-elected government, military force, and currency, Beijing continues to consider Taiwan part of its own territory and conducts influence campaigns in an effort to persuade Taiwanese citizens to accept a future in which the island is ‘unified’ with the mainland–infiltrating local media, political parties, and youth groups.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/19
By: Taiwan Today, Agencies

President Tsai Ing-wen said June 18 that Taiwan is committed to working with the U.S. in boosting bilateral ties and advancing a more free and open Indo-Pacific.

The two sides are strengthening cooperation across the board as they celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, Tsai said. This is demonstrated by growing exchanges in areas spanning culture, national defense, security and trade, she added.

Deepening ties are also underscored by the recent renaming of the Taiwan Council for U.S. Affairs, Tsai said. Formerly known as the Coordination Council for North American Affairs, TCUSA was established in 1979 to handle official exchanges with the American Institute in Taiwan.

Tsai made the remarks while receiving a delegation from Washington-based think tank the Brookings Institution at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/06/19
By: Ku Chuan, Yeh Su-ping and Emerson Lim

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the support of younger voters will be critical to her

chances of winning re-election after she was formally nominated Wednesday by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as its 2020 presidential candidate.

Tsai won the nomination after fending off a tough internal primary challenge from former Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德), who mounted his bid in the wake of the DPP's major setback in the 2018 local elections in November that forced Tsai to resign as the party's chairperson.

"The goal for the 2020 elections is clear: win the presidency and more than half of the Legislature's seats," Tsai said, vowing to consolidate the party machinery and campaign teams for both the presidential and legislative elections to win public support.

The president eyed the support of the younger generations as the key to winning the election and said she will pursue that support by understanding and responding to their needs.    [FULL  STORY]

NATIONAL SECURITY ACT: The amended law would target those found establishing, financially supporting or directing organizations for the interests of a foreign power

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 20, 2019
By: Hsieh Chun-lin and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Amendments to the National Security Act (國家安全法) that impose higher sentences and fines on people

spying for China or other nations, and increase restrictions on retired officials visiting China were yesterday passed by the legislature.

Those found recruiting others in Taiwan under instructions from the Chinese government would be subject to at least seven years in prison and a fine of up to NT$100 million (US$3.19 million) under the amendments.

Those conducting espionage by using the Internet would also be subject to the new penalties.

People employed by the military, the civil service, state-run enterprises or public-school teachers who are convicted for contravening the act would lose their pension, while those who have already retired and have received pension benefits would be required to return all the funds paid up to the date of their conviction.

Supplementary resolutions on the issues of how to define China, Macau and Hong Kong within the rubric of “hostile foreign forces,” and how to determine whether disseminated communications from people from those regions or other nations constitute a national threat are to be determined during the next legislative session, the Democratic Progressive Party and New Power Party caucuses said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 18 June, 20196
By: Natalie Tso

The foreign ministry is saying that ties with the Solomon Islands are stable. That’s in response to media reports that the new Solomon Islands administration has set up a working group to review its foreign policy, including ties with Taiwan. The Solomon Islands is Taiwan’s biggest ally in the South Pacific.

The foreign ministry said that the majority of politicians in the Parliament and Cabinet of the Solomon Islands support continuing diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/06/18
By: Jay Lin

Organizations in other Asian countries are looking to Taiwan to show the way forward for LGBT rights.

Recently, I had the chance to talk at the largest creativity festival in the world, Cannes Lions, where the global advertising, marketing and branding communities meet for five days to share the latest updates in these disciplines.

On stage, I shared our experiences during the past three years while building our LGBT filmmaking ecosystem composed of four key components: Firstly, GagaOOLala — Asia's first and already the world's largest collection of LGBT films from around the world; secondly, GagaTai and LalaTai, which have become the most visited LGBT news websites in Chinese and perhaps in Asia entirely; thirdly, GOL STUDIOS — launched in March as the world's first LGBT film crowdsourcing platform and currently producing/co-producing 10 projects from around the world; and, last but not least, Taiwan's Marriage Equality Coalition, of which GagaOOLala is one of the five founding members (and the only private entity), to fight for and win the legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan.

Two weeks before I was in Bangkok attending the Taiwan LGBTQ Film Festival at the Documentary Club, where I gave a similar presentation after the opening film. Film directors, politicians and activists came to learn more about the very recent passing of the same-sex marriage law in Taiwan, all of them looking forward to a similar future for Thailand. The next week I was in Mumbai, at the tenth edition of KASHISH Mumbai Queer Film Festival. Our platform GagaOOLala just launched in India, and across South Asia, and we recently signed an agreement with the festival to support new filmmakers with our production and distribution tools. After the revocation of 377a [which thus decriminalized homosexuality in India] last year, India is also quickly opening up. When, during my panel, I talked about Taiwan and my kids, I could see in their eyes how they are ready for the next fight. I selfishly love that Taiwan was the first country in Asia to pass a same-sex marriage law, but what I truly wish is that it is not the only one for much longer.    [FULL  STORY]