Animal quarantine authorities carried out the culling at a poultry farm in Changhua County, Sunday

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/16
By:  Central News Agency

TAIPEI (CNA) — Animal quarantine authorities in Taiwan slaughtered nearly 7,000 chickens at a poultry farm in Changhua County Sunday after an outbreak of a subtype of highly pathogenic H5N2 influenza virus was confirmed a day earlier, the first bird flu case reported in the county this winter.

The infection was detected among samples collected Dec. 6 from the poultry farm in Lugang Township that led to the culling of 6,958 chickens, Tung Meng-chih (董孟治), head of the Animal Disease Control Center, said Sunday.

Tung said the authorities also carried out cleaning and disinfection work on the premises to help prevent any possible spread of the virus, which is more likely to be transmitted during winter.

He urged poultry farmers to remain vigilant for any signs of disease in their flocks and to maintain strict biosecurity measures.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/16
By: Pan Tzi-yu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) Amid a looming manpower shortage in Taiwan due to a rapidly

aging population, nearly 2 million women are not in the labor force for family reasons, according to a recent report from this year’s manpower utilization survey.

The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) conducts the manpower utilization survey each May to exclude the seasonal effects of the graduation season and the lunar New Year.

According to the report, the number of people aged 15-64 not in the labor force had reached 5.24 million in May, with home responsibilities the main reason cited for not working by nearly 2.04 million people, followed by “attending school or preparing for entrance exams,” cited by nearly 2.03 million people.

Meanwhile, 50,000 people cited “old age, physical or mental challenges” as reasons for not working.    [FULL  STORY]

TAKING A STAND: Organizations should use the nation’s official title or ‘Taiwan’ at international events and oppose Beijing’s efforts to promote the name ‘China Taipei’

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 17, 2018
By: Lu Yi-hsuan and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Groups participating in international events should avoid using the name “Chinese

Taipei,” which could be twisted to mean that Taipei is a part of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

In guidelines published on Monday last week, the ministry said non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should prioritize using the nation’s official title, the Republic of China, or use the name “Republic of China (Taiwan)” when participating in international events.

The name “Taiwan” is also acceptable in circumstances under which the official title cannot be used, the ministry said.

Titles that demote the nation’s status — such as “Taiwan, Province of China,” “Taiwan, China,” “Taipei, China” or “Chinese Taiwan” — are unacceptable, it said.   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan English News
Date: December 15, 2018
By:Phillip Charlier

A 17-year-old girl and a 28-year-old man died at the scene of an accident in Chiayi City this morning after a 17-year-old unlicensed driver lost control of his vehicle at high speed, and bowled over a scooter rider before slamming into a building.

Three teenagers were traveling in the car after completing night classes and going out to eat. At around 12:45am, the driver of the car, named Zhuang, was obviously speeding in the 50 kilometer per hour speed limited zone when a 62-year-old man named Weng, riding a scooter, pulled out into the road from a side street, oblivious to oncoming traffic.

Traffic surveillance footage revealed that Zhuang hit the brakes in an attempt to avoid hitting Mr Weng, sending the car drifting sideways almost 180 degrees, narrowly missing the scooter before crossing the double yellow lines into oncoming traffic and hitting a 28-year-old scooter rider named Hsieh.

Zhuang’s car then slammed into a restaurant, bounced off the wall, and landed on its roof. A 17-year-old female high-school student named Zhong, who was sitting in the back seat of Zhuang’s car was thrown out of the vehicle on impact, and lost vital signs at the scene of the accident. Zhong was later declared dead at the hospital, while Hsieh, who was thrown several meters into the air on impact, was obviously dead at the scene.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan often finds itself paying the price for confrontations between the world’s two largest economies

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/15
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan is advised to lie low amid the tug of war between the

U.S. and China while striving to secure a bilateral trade deal with the U.S., urged former director of the American Institute in Taiwan Douglas H. Paal.

Paal, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, delivered a keynote speech on the subject of “The Beginning of a New Cold War? The Inevitable Confrontation between China and the U.S.” organized by Fair Winds Foundation in Taipei on Dec. 15, reported CNA.

In a talk following the speech, Paal provided his advice for the government and people of Taiwan on what approaches should be adopted to address the possible change of course by the U.S. towards the island in the “neo cold war” scenario.

Based on his 40-year observations of Sino-American relations, Paal reckoned that Taiwan often finds itself paying the price for confrontations between the world’s two largest economies. He suggested Taiwan “keep a low profile” and make a prudent assessment regarding Washington’s demands to stay out of trouble, wrote CNA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/15
By: Yang Su-min and Ko Lin

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) Sixteen individuals have so far been caught bringing meat products into Taiwan since heavier fines came into force on Friday, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) said Saturday.

The fines were imposed in cases involving meat products from China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, BAPHIQ said.

On Saturday, two Chinese nationals and a Taiwanese flying into Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from China were found to have Chinese ham and sausages in their carry-on bags and luggage.

Another Taiwanese national was also caught bringing pork jerky into Taiwan’s outlying Matsu Island from China that same day, according to BAPHIQ.    [FULL  STORY]

IMPORTANT TIES: Signatories of the Japan-led trade partnership are to meet next month, and could discuss ways for new members to accede, minister John Deng said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 16, 2018
By: Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Government efforts to smooth over Taiwan-Japan relations in private have begun in

earnest in the hopes of persuading Japan to support Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), despite Taiwan’s ban on food imports from five Japanese prefectures.

In a referendum held alongside the Nov. 24 local elections, 78 percent of nearly 10 million voters cast ballots in favor of referendum No. 9, which asked: “Do you agree that the government should, in connection to the March 11 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster, continue to enforce the food imports ban on 31 regions in Japan, including agricultural and food products from Fukushima and the surrounding four prefectures and municipalities (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba)?”

Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono on Friday last week said that the vote makes it unlikely that Taiwan’s CPTPP bid would succeed and Tokyo did not rule out taking the issue to the WTO.    [FULL  STORY]

Opponents of same-sex marriage studied a playbook provided by more experienced US church groups in how to counter pro-LGBT rights activism.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/14
By: The Interpreter

Like in Australia, the debate about foreign interference in Taiwan usually centers on the shadowy intentions of China. But a very different source of overseas influence is blamed, at least in part, for Taiwan’s failed bid last month to become the first Asian nation to formally legalize same-sex marriage.

Not meddling from Beijing, but from some Christian groups in the United States.

“Social conservative voices are rising in Taiwan,” says Ketty Chen of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, “and they are found to have a growing and consistent relationship with evangelical conservatives in the United States”.

The strength of these links became clear in the lead-up to Taiwan’s referendum on same-sex marriage in local elections on Nov. 24. Chen watched anti-LGBTQ campaigns gather momentum, benefiting from training in U.S. mega-churches and with pamphlets that featured many of the same prejudiced tropes about “moral decay” threatening society that have spread across the world to undermine progress on gay rights.    [FULL  STORY]

Date and schedule for Chen Yunlin trip still to be arranged: China

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/14
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A retired Chinese official once in charge of contacts with Taiwan, Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), will soon visit the island country again to pay respects to his counterpart, former Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), who died at the age of 85 on December 10.

As head of the semi-official Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), Chen was the highest-ranking official to date to visit Taiwan in November 2008. His trip to Taipei was the focus of massive protests, including a siege of the five-star hotel where his delegation was staying.

A statement from the Chinese government’s Taiwan Affairs Office Friday said Chen, 77, would visit Taiwan in a private capacity and as a “friend” of the late Kuomintang official. A precise date and schedule were still being discussed with Chiang’s relatives, the Central News Agency reported.

The choice of a long-retired official to travel to Taiwan on the occasion of Chiang’s passing away showed that Beijing did not want anybody in a current position to make any contact with the Democratic Progressive Party administration, commentators said.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/14
By: William Yen

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) A total of nine candidates have registered to compete in the

legislative by-elections for seats vacated in Taipei and Taichung during recent local elections, according to the Central Election Commission Friday.

The opposition party Kuomintang’s (KMT’s) Shen Jhih-huei (沈智慧), Independent Chiu Yu-shan (邱于珊), Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP’s) Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) and United Party’s Lin Chung-sheng (林忠勝) will compete for the legislative seat for Taichung’s 5th electoral district, left vacant by the city’s mayor-elect, Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) of the KMT, a statement from the Commission showed.

Meanwhile, the DPP’s Ho Chih-wei (何志偉), Independent Chen Su-yu (陳思宇), “National non-partisan coalition’s” Chen Yuan-chi (陳源奇), the KMT’s Chen Ping-fu (陳炳甫) and Independent Wang Yi-kai (王奕凱) will compete for Taipei’s 2nd electoral district, left vacant by the DPP’s Taipei mayoral candidate Yao Wen-chih (姚文智).    [FULL  STORY]