Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/07
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan 

Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Friday that he will step down from the post “when the time is right” to take political responsibility for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP’s) rousting in Nov. 24 local government elections.

“Taking political responsibility is the supreme value of democracy that no one should ever go against. I am a person who preaches ‘long live democracy,'” Lai said in a press conference at the Executive Yuan.

Pressed with questions about whether he has considered it to be a right timing when the Legislature breaks for a recess in January or running for president in 2020, Lai didn’t elaborate.

The legislative session is scheduled to end Dec. 31, but an extra session is likely to be held in January if the 2019 budget bill is not passed by the end of this session.
[FULL  STORY]

CHALLENGE: The foreign ministry said it was in ‘earnest communication’ with Tokyo, which expressed regret over a public vote to retain a ban on certain Japanese imports

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 08, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The government yesterday said it would continue to seek Tokyo’s support and

understanding after a top Japanese official said that Taiwan is unlikely to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) because of the result of its referendum banning certain Japanese food imports.

“Japan’s reaction is understandable and this is going to be a strenuous challenge for Taiwan,” Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said, adding that the Cabinet has instructed government agencies to communicate with Tokyo.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release said it would continue to engage in “earnest communication” with Japan and handle with discretion any possible actions Tokyo could take in response to the passage of a referendum on Nov. 24 that called for a continued ban on imports of Japanese agricultural and food products from Fukushima and four other prefectures after the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster.

A total of 7,791,856 people, or 78 percent of the votes cast, favored retaining the ban, further tying the hands of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, which has sought to relax the major impediment to bilateral trade relations.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/06
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Dec. 6 (CNA) Taiwan’s government on Thursday strongly protested Cambodia’s

decision to deport 46 Republic of China (Taiwan) citizens, arrested last month for their alleged involvement in telecommunications fraud, to China earlier that day.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said the 46 Taiwanese were among 235 suspects arrested in Cambodia on Nov. 26.

After learning of the arrests, Taiwan’s representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which is also responsible for dealing with matters relating to Cambodia, immediately called the Cambodian side indicating it planned to send representatives to visit the Taiwanese nationals in custody and urged the Cambodian government to honor the “nationality principle” by deporting the suspects to Taiwan.

However, the requests were rejected due to Cambodia’s support for the One-China principle that considers Taiwan part of China, Lee noted. Following a request from Beijing, the Cambodian government deported the 46 R.O.C. nationals to China early Thursday.    [FULL  STORY]

Cabinet Says It Will Cancel Plan to Abolish Nuclear Energy by 2025

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/06
By: Nick Aspinwall

Taiwan’s Executive Yuan agreed today to halt its policy of making the island nuclear-free by 2025, after voters backed a Nov. 24 referendum item supporting nuclear power.

The move comes after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said last week that her administration’s goal of phasing out nuclear power by 2025 remained unchanged, despite the results of the referendum.

The country’s Cabinet approved a proposal to abolish the first paragraph of Article 95 of the Electricity Act, which states the government’s goal to deactivate Taiwan’s nuclear power plants. Tsai had used this paragraph as part of her campaign platform during her successful presidential run in 2016.

Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said on Thursday the proposed repeal of the paragraph will be submitted to Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan for review.    [FULL  STORY]

Ministry of Interior considers amendments to fight the spread of fake news

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/06
By: Matthew Strong,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Three days of detention could be the punishment for knowingly disseminating fake news, according to amendments prepared by the Ministry of Interior.

During the run-up to the November 24 local elections, candidates often complained of fake news being spread by their opponents or by China.

In a response to the problem, the Ministry of Interior approved proposals to amend the Social Order Protection Act, the Apple Daily reported Thursday.

Under the changes, a person found to be knowingly spreading false information which causes fear or panic could face a maximum detention of three days or a fine ranging from NT$30,000 (US$970) to NT$300,000. The proposed amendments have to be passed on to the full Cabinet for review and to the Legislative Yuan for final approval, according to the Apple Daily.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 07, 2018
By Chen Yu-fu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Ministry of the Interior yesterday approved draft amendments to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) that seek to prevent disinformation and external forces from influencing elections.

If passed by the legislature, the amendments would restrict media companies from disseminating election-related advertisements funded by groups or individuals from overseas, including China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Offenses are punishable either by a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$10 million (US$6,482 to US$324,076) or a fine double the cost of the advertisement, the ministry said.

“Mass media companies airing or carrying advertisements on election campaigns or campaigns to recall a government official should — in addition to current regulations that mandate transparency of the individual placing the advertisement — also make known the individual or group funding the advertisement, as well as other relevant information,” the bill says.    [FULL  STORY]

Authorities are investigating a series of blood-curdling crew testimonials.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/05
By: Nick Aspinwall

Warning: Some images in the following report may be disturbing to some readers.

Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency (FA), which regulates the Taiwanese fishing industry, is investigating after a report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) based on crew testimony revealed illegal shark finning, along with the hunting and capture of protected species including dolphins and turtles, aboard five longline tuna vessels flagged or linked to Taiwan.

The report and accompanying video by EJF, a London-based nongovernmental organization, also detailed potential human rights abuses on four of the five vessels, including verbal threats, salary deductions, physical abuse, and long working hours in violation of Taiwanese law.

Aboard these vessels, which fished in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, dolphins were used as bait for sharks, and shark fins were hidden from investigators at the bottom of freezers before being unloaded at port in Taiwan in the early morning, out of sight from investigators.

According to the report from EJF investigators who traveled to Indonesia to interview crew members of the five vessels, fishermen would harpoon dolphins and drag them alongside the boat until the dolphin became exhausted, at which point they were hauled onto the boat to be used as shark bait. If they were still alive, crew members said they would use a car battery to electrocute and stun the dolphin.    [FULL  STORY]

A unification process should be democratic and peaceful: Ma

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/05
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Any interference by the United States in relations between Taiwan and China is doomed to fail, former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said Wednesday.

The retired Kuomintang (KMT) leader made the remark at a seminar about the future of cross-strait relations hosted by Soochow University in Taipei.

His speech came after the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party suffered a major defeat in the November 24 local elections, ending up with only six positions of city mayor and county magistrate against 15 for the KMT.

Ma described how before he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore in 2015, the U.S. had said relations between Taipei and Washington had been at their best because of his stable handling of cross-strait relations, the United Evening News reported.    [FULL  STORY]

A ‘knowledge-based’ society like Taiwan must accommodate its continuing education learners.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/04
By: Wujun Ke

Imagine taking a class about a subject you always wanted to explore without the stressful checkpoints of homework, exams, or grade point averages. Instead of pursuing a degree, you are deepening and sharpening your wisdom. Instead of gearing your studies towards the whims of the job market, you are following sparks of nascent curiosity. Perhaps you are a professional musician toying with the idea of starting your own business, or maybe a strategic consultant with a passion for Tang poetry.

As the concept of lifelong learning takes root in Taiwan, personal and intellectual enrichment is becoming increasingly central to the lives of working professionals. While education is compulsory for the young and usually accompanied by parental supervision, adult education emphasizes individual responsibility. Going to museums, taking online classes, participating in workshops, or simply reading the news are all avenues of lifelong learning, which Taiwanese educators and policymakers believe will result in greater civic participation and collective social advancement.

Beyond offering degrees in business, management, and law, National Taiwan University (NTU)’s School of Professional Education and Continuing Studies (SPECS) provides classes appealing to adult learners who wish to cultivate non-career-related skills. These include courses on Buddhist sutras, Chinese literature, Chinese Traditional Medicine, chocolate-making, and wine-tasting.    [FULL  STORY]