Taipei Times
Date: Dec 20, 2018
By: Chung Li-hua and Hua Meng-ching  /  Staff reporters

Former Hualien county commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) has been accused of

misappropriating NT$5.46 million (US$177,198) from the county’s tax income to hire reporters to write articles, produce videos or take photographs to trumpet his administration’s achievements.

The Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine yesterday reported that a closed tender to create a “media database to promote county government policies,” which had been initiated before Fu was imprisoned for speculative stock trading in September, was sent to 25 reporters from 14 news outlets and TV news stations.

The closed tender was for 25 projects scheduled for last year and this year each promising payments from NT$140,000 to NT$283,000.

Reporters who were awarded the bid were from the United Daily News, the Keng Sheng Daily News, Formosa TV, Sanlih E-Television, Next TV, CTi TV, China Television Co, TVBS, Taiwan Television, ERA TV, ETTV News, Taiwan Indigenous TV, Hakka TV and an online news site, the magazine said.
[FULL  STORY]

A post-referendum survey showed voters were unaware of Taiwan’s energy policy.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/18
By: Roy Ngerng

Last month, Taiwan held three referendums on energy-related issues, which all passed, but questions have been raised on whether the electorate were sufficiently aware of the issues to vote on them.

The three referendum questions were:

Question 7: Do you agree that the electricity output of thermal power plants should be lowered by at least 1 percent every year?

Question 8: Do you agree that Taiwan should establish an energy policy that undertakes not to construct any new coal-fired power plants or generators or expand existing facilities (including the expansion of the Shen’ao Power Plant)?

Question 16: Do you agree with abolishing the first paragraph of Article 95 of the Electricity Act, which stipulated that, “all nuclear-energy-based power-generating facilities shall completely cease operations by 2025”?

The referendums passed but even when the questions were first proposed, there was confusion as to why they were put to the vote in the first place.    [FULL  STORY]

Chinese military aircraft and ships passed close to Taiwan Tuesday

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As four Chinese air force planes and two navy vessels appeared close to the coast of southern Taiwan Tuesday, an expert recommended Taiwan forge closer military ties with its democratic neighbors.

The Ministry of National Defense released a picture of one of its Indigenous Defense Fighters closing in on a Chinese Shaanxi Y-8 transport aircraft Tuesday.

China wanted to show that its policies toward Taiwan had not changed even as the opposition Kuomintang had made significant gains in the November 24 local elections, said Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor and expert in international strategy at National Chung Cheng University.

Any Chinese military activity in the area surrounding Taiwan not only posed a threat against the island, but also against its neighbors, so Taipei should seek closer military ties to those countries, the Central News Agency quoted Lin as saying.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/18
By: Chiu Chun-chin and Christie Chen

Taipei, Dec. 18 (CNA) A woman returning to Taiwan from a visit to China was fined NT$200,000 (US$6,490) on Tuesday after being caught bringing pork jerky into the country, according to Taipei Customs officers.

The 50-year-old woman was caught carrying 15 packs of pork jerky weighing a total of 200 grams in her luggage as she arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from Fuzhou, officers said.

She became the first passenger to be fined NT$200,000 for smuggling meat products into Taiwan after the Council of Agriculture (COA) announced a day earlier higher fines for the offense to prevent African swine fever (ASF) from spreading inside the country.

The woman, a Taoyuan resident, spent around 20 Chinese yuan (US$2.90) to purchase the 15 packs of pork jerky in China while visiting relatives there.    [FULL  STORY]

SIGN OF COMMITMENT: The acts resolves to ‘develop a long-term strategic vision and a comprehensive, multifaceted and principled United States policy for the Indo-Pacific region’

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 19, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed gratitude to the US House of

Representatives for passing the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, which includes a section detailing the US’ commitments to Taiwan.

The legislation, which aims to “develop a long-term strategic vision and a comprehensive, multifaceted and principled United States policy for the Indo-Pacific region,” cleared the floor of the House on Wednesday last week, after being passed by the US Senate on Dec. 4.

It was in April introduced by US Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy, and cosponsored by senators Ed Markey, Marco Rubio, Ben Cardin and Todd Young.

Under Section 209 of the bill, the US reiterated its commitment to support close economic, political and security ties between Taiwan and the US, and to “faithfully enforce” all existing US commitments to Taiwan in line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques and the “six assurances” agreed to by then-US president Ronald Reagan in 1982.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 17 December, 2018
By: Andrew Ryan

Hikers are hoping to catch a rare glimpse of a Taiwanese lake known as the “Angel’s Tear” in the middle of winter. Every year the forestry authority closes the mountain that is home to what’s officially known as “Chiaming Lake” for four months at the beginning of the year to allow the area to “rest.”

But authorities have taken down the latest announcement of a closing that was set to begin in early 2019. That’s prompting hopes that forestry officials may allow hikers to a see the lake enshrouded in snow.

Hikers say there is merit to allowing the mountain to rest, considering it receives more than 20,000 visitors per year. However, they say that a more logical time to close the mountain would be in the spring when new life is emerging from the cover of snow.

At an altitude of 3,310 meters, Chiaming Lake is the second highest lake in Taiwan. In the Bunun language, it is called “cidanumas buan”, which means “Mirror of the moon”.
[FULL  STORY]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/17
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Migrant workers are demanding the Ministry of Labor (MoL) clamp down on brokers who illegally charge workers recruitment fees to get new contracts.

According to the Taiwan International Workers’ Association (TIWA), it is now commonplace for brokers to charge the so-called “job-buying fees,” especially following the 2016 amendment to the Employment Service Act (ESA).

The amendment abolished the requirement that foreign workers must leave Taiwan for one day after three years of employment in order to be eligible to re-enter to renew their contracts or begin work on a new contract. It also relieved migrant workers from another placement fee payment.

However, the lack of a job-matching mechanism operated by the government means workers are still forced to use brokers to secure a new contract because most job search channels are still dominated by such brokerages.    [FULL  STORY]

A new scheme involving sensor-clad traffic cones is to be trialed in 2019

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/17
By: Ryan Drillsma, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — DPP legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) has called for better protection for road safety personnel across Taiwan, according to a report by CNA.

Lee reminded fellow ministers today (Dec. 17) that since 2011, five national highway police have been killed on duty. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications promised to install a special traffic cone signal and warning system next year to guarantee the better protection of all road safety personnel.

At a Traffic Safety Committee meeting today, Lee commented that over the past 10 years, road accidents have claimed the lives of 43 construction workers. Between 2011 and 2018, two officers were killed and 32 were injured.

A further three officers have been killed this year, including two that died after being hit by an oncoming truck while issuing a traffic violation in April.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/17
By: Wu Hsin-yun, Elaine Hou, Lu Hsin-hui and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) The Council of Agriculture (COA) has announced stiffer fines on people smuggling meat into Taiwan to prevent African swine fever (ASF) from being spread inside the country.

The new higher fines, to take effect Tuesday, will be raised to NT$200,000 (US$6,485) for first-time offenders and to NT$1 million for second time offenders, said COA deputy chief Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) on Monday.

The fines apply to people smuggling meat into Taiwan from areas affected by the ASF virus over the past three years, including China, Hong Kong, Macau, Russia and some European countries, Huang said.

The decision was made because of the rapid rise in the number of smuggled meat cases discovered in Taiwan over the past few days after already stiffer fines came into force Dec. 14, according to Huang.    [FULL  STORY]

China’s shadow

The Vindicator
Date: December 16, 2018
By: Jordyn Grzelewski

Much of the international attention on Taiwan focuses on the island country’s complicated relationship with its neighbor across the Taiwan Strait.

China considers Taiwan (officially named the Republic of China) to be part of its territory; Taiwan disagrees. Taiwan’s relationships with other countries are often defined by this conflict.

Due to its unique status, Taiwan must find creative ways to assert itself and connect with the world. It does this not only through its economic might, but by using soft power – for example, showing off what the country has to offer, and collaborating with Southeast Asian countries on issues such as health and industrial innovation.

Although this fraught dynamic was one of the most-discussed topics in meetings between foreign reporters and Taiwanese officialdom on a recent reporting trip there, I found there was much more to see and learn about this country of 23 million people.   [FULL  STORY]