Magnitude 5.0 temblor jolts eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County

Taiwan News 
Date: 2019/02/16
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A magnitude 5.0 earthquake shook eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County at 10:08 p.m. Friday evening (Feb. 15), according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The epicenter of the temblor was 24.5 kilometers southeast of Hualien County hall at a depth of 43.6 kilometers, based on CWB data.

The quake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of the tremor, registered a 4 in Hualien County and a 3 in Yilan County and Taichung County. An intensity level of 2 was felt in Nantou County, Taitung County, Yunlin County, Changhua County, and New Taipei City, while an intensity level of 1 was recorded in Taoyuan City, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, and Chiayi County.

Located along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, Taiwan uses an intensity scale of 1 to 7, which gauges the degree to which a quake is felt in a specific location.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/15
By: Yang Shu-min and Christie Chen 

Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) Taiwan has begun checking all passengers arriving in the country from Vietnam for possession of pork products after a pork sandwich brought into Taiwan by a traveler from Ho Chi Minh City tested positive for African swine fever (ASF).

It was the latest step taken by Taiwan to keep the ASF virus out of the country after a widespread outbreak in China.

The government has already imposed 100 percent checks of carry-on bags of passengers arriving from China and raised fines for having undeclared pork products to NT$200,000 (US$6,486) for first time offenders and NT$1 million for multiple offenders.

Authorities fear the spread of ASF, which is deadly to pigs, could destroy Taiwan’s pig-farming industry, which contributes more than NT$100 billion (US$3.24 billion) a year to the domestic economy.    [FULL  STORY]

FORCE PROTECTION: A source said that the military has placed a renewed emphasis on concealment and camouflage to mitigate substantial technological advancements

Taipei Tmes
Date: Feb 16, 2019
By: Huang Hsin-po and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The military has requested that Google limit the exposure of military installations in

Google Maps’ new 3D function after netizens discovered that they could view missile defense batteries ringing Taipei, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said yesterday.

The enhanced function, which went partially online three days ago, allows users to zoom in and view locations whose satellite imagery Google has digitized into 3D data.

Users can currently view much of Taipei and its surroundings through the function, including Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) and Sindian District (新店) in New Taipei City, where the National Security Bureau compound and missile defense batteries are located respectively.

The high-definition images clearly show individual MIM-104 Patriot missile launchers, as well as a detailed layout of the bureau’s headquarters, raising concerns that the Web-based tool could compromise national security.    [FULL  STORY]

The start of Han Kuo-yu’s reign as mayor of Kaohsiung has been defined by lies, more lies and a lack of accountability.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/02/14
By: David Evans

It is now nearly three months since Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) swept to victory in the Kaohsiung mayoral elections and almost two months since his inauguration on Dec. 25.

Given the massive swing that he managed to elicit from the people of Kaohsiung and the wave of adoration that followed him everywhere throughout the campaign, it is probably safe to assume that Han had hoped for a fairly smooth start to life in the most senior elected position he has held during his long career in public service.

However, it is fair to say that things have not exactly gone to plan. His first six weeks in office have been little short of farcical – although this is exactly what those who saw through the bluster and rhetoric of his election campaign predicted.

It is difficult to know where to start when trying to write a summary of the first two months of the Han Kuo-yu era in Kaohsiung. Like trying to choose an inadvisable tweet from Donald Trump’s Twitter feed, there are just so many incidents to choose from.
[FULL  STORY]

Self-professed ‘monk’ from Cambodia accused of sexually assaulting followers in Taoyuan, Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/14
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A self-professed “monk” from Cambodia, faces deportation after being charged by over a dozen women with sexual assault and profiting from his religious teachings.

Over a dozen of his victims, all Cambodian immigrant women, have accused a Cambodian self-titled “monk,” identified as Shih Ching-liang (釋精良), of coercing them into sexual acts that in many cases resulted in the breakup of their marriages. Shih has also been accused of eschewing the ascetic lifestyle expected of a monk with a mansion, car, and family, and using his status as a religious figure to profit from his followers.

According to Mirror Media, Shih came to Taiwan over 10 years ago and trained at the Yuan Kuang Buddhist College in Taoyuan for three years to become a monk. Shih soon exploited the venerated status of Buddhist monks in Cambodia to build a large following of Cambodian immigrants in Taoyuan.

Shih then allegedly began to target his female Cambodian followers and coerce them into performing sexual acts, often leading to conflicts with their Taiwanese husbands. None of his followers spoke of the incidents, until some victims recently stepped forward, opening the door for many more accounts of his misdeeds.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/14
By: Wen Kuei-hsiang, Ku Chuan, Yeh Su-ping and Ko Lin

Taipei, Feb. 14 (CNA) Taiwan independence advocate and a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) Kao Chun-ming (高俊明) died Thursday at the age of 90, according to PCT general secretary Lyim Hong-tiong (林芳仲).

A native of Tainan, Kao remained a vocal supporter of human rights activists during Taiwan’s martial law period and the cause of Taiwan Independence until late in life.

In 1979, he helped pro-democracy activist Shih Ming-teh (施明德), who later became chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), escape arrest during the Kaohsiung Incident, a protest that was brutally cracked down on by the government of late President Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).

Kao was subsequently arrested in 1980 and sentenced to 7 years in prison.
[FULL  STORY]

LOOKING FORWARD: KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih said arbitrarily lengthening the prohibition period for travel to China would set a bad example for future administrations

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 15, 2019
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

With the new legislative session beginning today, the Democratic Progressive Party

(DPP) caucus yesterday listed as priorities amendments that would significantly extend the prohibition period for visits to China by former presidents, vice presidents, generals and political appointees.

The caucus’ draft amendment to the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) seeks to extend the prohibition period for retired presidents and vice presidents from three years after their retirement to six years, while a draft amendment to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) aims to extend the period during which retired generals are barred from visiting China.

The DPP caucus’ prioritization of the bills for review drew protest from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who last month said that he did not rule out visiting China after his three-year ban is lifted on May 20.

Ma’s office yesterday issued a statement criticizing the DPP, saying that attempting to push through the “unconstitutional” amendments was politicking, would aggravate ideological conflicts and would neglect legislation related to energy and people’s livelihoods.    [FULL  STORY]

A dive into what it means to be Taiwanese with the rock band Fire EX.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/02/13
By: Rath Chien-Chi Wang, 破土 New Bloom

Progressive values appear to define and refine increasingly self-evident Taiwanese identity. This is a pattern apparent especially with those under 45, as most strongly expressed during the Sunflower Movement in March and April 2014. The movement received widespread support received from all ethnic groups across Taiwan, including both Han and aboriginal. This was also when Fire EX (滅火器), a rock band with humble beginnings at a high school in Taiwan’s second largest city, Kaohsiung, was first become widely known nationwide, with lead singer Sam Yang (楊大正) composing and writing the lyrics for what became the theme song of the movement, Island’s Sunrise (島嶼天光).

Island’s Sunrise hit Taiwan’s top charts, winning song of the year at the Golden Melody Awards. Fire EX was asked to perform Island’s Sunrise at Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) presidential inauguration ceremony in June 2017. This song is still sung by groups on the left spectrum at political events to represent the ongoing fight for civil rights, Taiwanese autonomy, national identity, and preserving its hard-won freedoms. Fire EX, although composed of both waisheng and bensheng members, sings almost exclusively in Taiwanese Hoklo, with the aim of helping preserve and continuing to foster Taiwan’s growing identity.

Sam’s own story represents that of many young people in Taiwan. Despite having grown up in a waisheng Han family, Sam is a staunch and vocal advocate for Taiwan’s autonomy, both in terms of creating a distinct national identity and political independence. He wrote Island’s Sunrise in protest against eroding Taiwan’s hard-won democratic freedoms and overreliance on China on the night the Kuomintang (KMT) undemocratically tried to pass the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA) through the Legislative Yuan, which resulted in student activists storming the building. Sam mentions in interviews that there have indeed been difficult times with his parents, who are older generation waisheng, are pro-Chinese both in the cultural and national sense, and follow the narrative promoted by the KMT that the Republic of China (ROC) is the legitimate and cultural defender of China, including with regards to its “Greater China” national, political and cultural identity.    [FULL  STORY]

The Ministry of Civil Service reached a conclusion on Feb. 13 to grant the compensation in recognition of Tsai Yi-min’s dedication to work

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/13
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The family of a registered nurse who died in a helicopter accident while on duty will be granted the highest-degree pecuniary compensation, announced the Ministry of Civil Service (MCS) Wednesday.

The ministry came under fire after reports suggested that it had refused to give the compensation to the family of Tsai Yi-min (蔡邑敏), who was killed in a helicopter crash while trying to help her patient transfer to a hospital on Taiwan from Orchid Island last February.

A total of six people aboard the S-70A helicopter for an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) mission died in the crash, including the crew members.

After convening a meeting over the case with aviation experts on Wednesday afternoon, MCS officials agreed to offer the highest degree of pecuniary compensation in cases of the death of a civil servant during duty performance in recognition of Tsai’s dedication to work.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/13
By: Chang Ming-hsuan, Hsu Chi-wei and Flor Wang

Taipei, Feb. 13 (CNA) Sixteen people were rescued in a fire that broke out at Chinese Culture University in the suburbs of Taipei on Wednesday, and two of them are in critical condition, the city’s fire department said.

The department said it immediately dispatched 99 firefighters, 22 fire trucks, seven ambulances, one aerial ladder fire-fighting truck and six special vehicles to the scene after receiving a report at 5 p.m. that a fire had broken out in an eight-story building.

When the firefighters arrived on the scene, there were 14 people on a balcony on the sixth floor, calling for help, and they were all brought to safety with the use of the ladder truck, the fire department said.    [FULL  STORY]