Operator of tire storage space fined NT$5 million

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Residents of the Taichung City District of Houli received a nasty scare Tuesday (May 7) as the skies turned black due to burning tires.

The operator of a storage place for discarded tires was fined NT$5 million (US$161,600) by the Taichung City Government as this was the second fire to occur at the site since late last year, the Central News Agency reported.

The tires were stored inside a two-floor-tall sheet-metal structure, but the cause of the fire was not known, firefighters said.

By 3 p.m., the blaze had been brought under control, but residents expressed fears about the risk of toxic pollution and preferred to stay inside for the time being while closing their windows.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/07
By: Wang Yang-yu, Yu Hsiang and Emerson Lim

Taipei, May 7 (CNA) A three-year travel restriction that applies to government officials who have had access to classified information but have already left their posts has been extended to six years, under a law amendment that was passed in the Legislature Tuesday.

The Classified National Security Information Protection Act was amended to close a loophole that lawmakers said allowed local government heads, in particular, to travel abroad without requiring permission, after they leave office.

Under Taiwan law, government officials or clerks who have handled classified information must seek government permission to travel overseas after their retirement, resignation, or transfer.

Prior to the amendment Tuesday, the law applied for a period of three years after the official left office, but that time could be shortened or lengthened, depending on the situation.    [FULL  STORY]

LOOPHOLE CLOSED: Legislators sponsored changes to the Criminal Code to extend penalties for espionage to Chinese nationals and residents of Hong Kong and Macau

Taipei Times
Date: May 08, 2019
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Lawmakers yesterday stiffened penalties for people who leak state secrets and approved

amendments to ensure that Chinese spies face the same punishment as Republic of China (ROC) citizens who commit “offenses against the external security of the state.”

The Constitution defines China as a territory of the ROC and the Criminal Code stipulates penalties for ROC citizens who collude with “foreign nations or personnel they dispatched,” so the same penalties could not be applied to Chinese spies, said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), an amendment sponsor.

As a result, spies from China are only handed light sentences under special laws, Wang added.

In the largest case involving a Chinese spy, People’s Liberation Army intelligence officer Zhen Xiaojiang (鎮小江) came to Taiwan and persuaded more than 10 military officers to collude with him, but was only sentenced to four years in prison, Wang said.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 06 May, 2019
By: Jake Chen

The Taiwan International Workers Association is calling on the government to ensure the safety of dormitories for migrant workers. The group held up signs outside the labor ministry on Monday, criticizing the government for ignoring the issue.

They want assurance from the government that dorms will be built away from factories and that they will comply with safety standards.

Earlier this year in February, a migrant worker died and others were injured in a dorm fire in Taoyuan County. At least two other fatal dorm fires have claimed the lives of some 14 other migrant workers since December, 2017.    [SOURCE]

A new program at one Taichung market encourages patrons to bring their own reusable bags.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/05/06
By: Madeleine Work

A hodgepodge of canvas bags and reused plastic bags fill the lanes of check-out lines at Taiwanese grocery stores, as shoppers dutifully avoid the NT$2 charge for store-issued plastic bags – part of Taiwan’s policy to reduce single-use plastics, which first took effect in 2002.

On January 1, 2018, Taiwan took this ban against free plastic bags even further. While the original policy only banned large-scale retailers such as grocery and convenience stores from providing free plastic bags, the most recent ban expanded this to include seven new types of retailers, including bakeries, beverage shops and bookstores.

As a result of this new policy, the EPA reports that 70 percent of customers chose not to purchase a bag, resulting in a massive reduction of plastic bag consumption.

Looking at these trends, it would seem as if Taiwan is well on track to achieve its ambitious goal of completely banning single-use plastic cups, straws, and bags by 2030 – which, if successful, will be the most comprehensive plastic-reduction policy in the world.    [FULL  STORY]

Co-signing electronic referendum proposal must pass data security checks before being implemented

Taiwan News 
Date: 2019/05/06
By: Yu-ning Hsu, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Central Election Commission (CEC) said in a legislative

hearing Monday (May 6) the launch date for the electronic referendum joint signature system may be delayed due to data risks.

Acting chairperson Chen Chao-chien (陳朝建) told the Internal Administration Committee that should the system pass the data security and verification checks, it will be able to launch according to the proposed timeline on June 1.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/06
By: Tang Pei-chun, Shine Chen, Elizabeth Hsu, Joseph Yeh and William  
Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Taiwan on Monday condemned China’s “barbaric behavior” for once again blocking Taiwan from attending the World Health Assembly (WHA), after a Beijing official said China decided not to agree to Taiwan’s participation due to its “one China principle.”

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said such exclusion runs against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) constitution that says the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being.

The ministry called on the international community to face the “evil essence of Chinese government” in its repeated attempts to squeeze Taiwan’s international space and help Taiwan enjoy the rights it deserves to participate in the international community.

The world will suffer from the consequences if international organizations such as the WHO continue to bow to Chinese pressure to ignore the rights of Taiwan’s people, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

‘UNACCEPTABLE’: Tsai Ing-wen said that the best way to avoid becoming ensnared in the US-China trade dispute would be to bring Taiwanese firms back to the nation

Taipei Times
Date: May 07, 2019
By: Su Yung-yao, Wang Jung-hsiang and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday spoke out against a proposal by Kaohsiung

Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to establish a free economic zone in the city, saying it could cause Chinese goods to be mistaken for Taiwanese goods.

If a free economic zone made it unclear whether US-bound goods were Taiwanese or Chinese, the effect on Taiwan from the US-China trade dispute would be greater than elsewhere, so the government is opposed to a free economic zone, Tsai said.

The US-China trade dispute could affect the entire global economy if not reined in, she said.

Trump on Sunday said that he was considering increasing tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods in response to slow negotiations.
[FULL  STORY]

BE PREPARED: While China is not likely to achieve victory using missiles alone, the improved range of its new weapons poses a huge threat, an analyst said

Taipei Times
Date: May 06, 2019
By: Huang Hsin-po and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Analysts and legislators urged the government to step up the nation’s asymmetric warfare capabilities, after the US Department of Defense issued a report on China’s military capabilities.

The report, released on Thursday, said that the west and northwest of Taiwan are in range of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air defense missiles, Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said.

The Ministry of National Defense’s decision to replace Northrop F-5Es at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung with F-16Vs is vindicated by the report’s findings, he said.

Basing Taiwan’s most advanced tactical aircraft at Chihhang would put them beyond the reach of Chinese surface-to-air missile fire during takeoff, Su said.    [FULL  STORY]

Wang held the boys in her arms and told them, “You are grandmother’s angels”

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/05
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Single mother Wang Su-zhu (王素珠), who decided to end her hairdressing career and dedicate herself to raising her tenant’s two children full time 13 years ago, was commended on Sunday (May 5) by Taiwan Fund for Children and Families’ (TFCF) Yilan branch for her unselfish love, Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Sunday.

Wang, 60, told CNA that she divorced her husband when she was 28 years old and that she raised her own kids by herself and later adopted a son. All the three children became married and have started their careers, she added. As she had been working as a hairdresser at home, she began to double as hairdresser and babysitter for her male tenant’s children 15 years ago.

Wang said her tenant divorced his wife 13 years ago, and then became depressed in the following years. She told the news outlet that as the tenant’s job situation was unstable, she was afraid that he would take his two sons away and become suicidal. Therefore, she said to him, “It doesn’t matter because I’ll help you out. Don’t think too much,” CNA reported. She decided to end her hairdressing career and begin caring for the two boys full time.    [FULL  STORY]