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Magnitude 6.1 earthquake hits western Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/26
By: Chen Wei-ting and Y.F. Low 

Image from CWB web site.

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck western Taiwan at 7:57 a.m. Monday, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The earthquake’s epicenter was located at sea about 101.9 kilometers west of Penghu County Hall, at a depth of 20.5 km, the bureau’s Seismology Center said.

The earthquake’s highest intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Penghu, Kinmen, Tainan, Yunlin, Chiayi and Changhua, where it measured 3 on Taiwan’s 7-tiered intensity scale.

The earthquake also measured an intensity of 2 in Nantou, Kaohsiung and Taichung, bureau data showed.     [SOURCE]

CEC head resigns over slow polling

‘LONGEST NIGHT’: The director of a Taipei election supervisory task force said she would raise concerns with the commission over the poor execution of the elections

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 26, 2018
By: Chen Yu-fuand William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Former Central Election Commission (CEC) chairman Chen In-chin (陳英鈐)

Former Central Election Commission chairman Chen In-chin, center, yesterday in Taipei apologizes to voters for the long delays at polling booths during Saturday’s nine-in-one elections.  Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times

yesterday apologized to voters and resigned over criticisms surrounding long delays at polling booths for the nine-in-one elections on Saturday.

“As the senior official, I must accept all responsibility and as I have said before, I will engage in sincere introspection,” Chen said before announcing his resignation.

Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka confirmed that Chen’s resignation has been accepted.

With people still lined up as polling stations were scheduled to close, the commission allowed voting to continue, with some stations remaining open while others were counting ballots.    [FULL  STORY]

5 Questions for After Taiwan’s Election

As Taiwan’s election results begin to come in, these are the key questions that must be answered in their wake.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/11/24
By Kharis Templeman
Credit: CC by Studio Incendo/ Flickr

Credit: CC by Studio Incendo/ Flickr

Taiwan voters are at the polls to elect over 11,000 local officials for nine different kinds of offices, from the mayor of Taipei all the way down to village and ward chiefs. Much is at stake. In addition to deciding who will run all of Taiwan’s local governments for the next four years, these elections also serve as a kind of midterm evaluation for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which won unprecedented victories in 2014 and 2016 but is fighting an uphill battle this time around. The severity of the DPP’s losses will be read as a barometer of President Tsai Ing-wen’s chances of reelection in 2020 and could determine whether she will remain as DPP chairwoman.

The results will also indicate whether the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) is on the road toward recovery or is instead in terminal decline, and they will be a moment of truth for smaller parties seeking to expand their support and demonstrate staying power in Taiwanese politics – none more so than the youth-oriented New Power Party (NPP), which is running council candidates across the island for the first time. They also offer voters an unprecedented chance to use the power of referendums to decide public policy questions.

So, as the election returns roll in on election night, here are five key questions to keep in mind.    [FULL  STORY]

Same-sex marriage referendums: Taiwan Civil Code to remain unchanged

People of Taiwan vote to keep Civil Code unchanged, same-sex marriage set to enter into law through new legislation

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/24
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

LGBT pride parade in Taipei, 2018 (By Taiwan News)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Results from the three same-sex marriage referendums held on Nov. 24 suggest that the Civil Code will remain unchanged, and legalization of same-sex unions is likely to take place through the passing of new legislation.

The people of Taiwan voted to maintain the concept of marriage as defined in the Civil Code to be between a man and a woman.

In May 2017, Taiwan’s high court ruled that it was unconstitutional for same-sex couples to be barred from marriage, and gave the government two years to legalize it. Due to disagreements within Taiwan’s parliament, legislation to legalize same-sex marriage stalled.

The main point of contention is whether same-sex marriage should be legalized through amendments to the Civil Code, or through introduction of new legislation. Groups traditionally against same-sex marriage are against reforms to the Civil Code.   [FULL  STORY]

U.S. congratulates Taiwan on successful elections

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/25
By: Rita Cheng and Y.F. Low

Image taken from Pixabay

Washington, Nov. 24 (CNA) The U.S. government on Saturday extended its congratulations to Taiwan on the smooth completion of the latest local government elections.

“The United States congratulates the people on Taiwan for once again demonstrating the strength of their vibrant democratic system through a successful round of elections,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email response to CNA.

“We look forward to working with our counterparts — new and old — to continue our fruitful cooperation on a wide range of issues of mutual concern,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said Taiwan’s democratic institutions continue to serve as a role model for the entire region, and the United States looks forward to finding new ways to highlight Taiwan’s positive example.    [FULL  STORY]

2018 ELECTIONS: Lai offers to resign as DPP routed

END OF AN ERA: President Tsai Ing-wen stepped down as DPP chairperson after early results, which showed the KMT winning in Kaohsiung after two decades of DPP rule

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 25, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu, Sean Lin and Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporters

Premier William Lai (賴清德) offered his resignation and President Tsai Ing-wen

President Tsai Ing-wen, center, steps down from the podium after announcing her resignation as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson as DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu, left, and DPP Electoral Strategy Committee co-convener Chen Ming-wen look on at a news conference at the party’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday.  Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times

stepped down as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson after the party suffered a bruising defeat in yesterday’s nine-in-one local elections, as the results showed the nation’s political map shifting toward the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

Later last night, Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) also announced her resignation.

While official tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) were not available as of press time last night, some of the candidates had unilaterally declared victory or conceded defeat.

Among them were Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) of the DPP, who acknowledged losing to KMT Taichung mayoral candidate Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), and KMT Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who defeated his DPP rival, Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), and ended the DPP’s 20-year governance of southern Taiwan’s largest city.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News: Police Question Man Over Threat to Kill Kaohsiung Mayoral Candidate

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/11/23
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Photo Credit: 中央社

The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said Thursday that police have questioned a man for alleged online incitement for someone to kill Kuomintang (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).

Authorities said the suspect has been identified as a 47-year-old engineer living in Taipei City.

He allegedly posted a statement on the PTT online bulletin board service on Nov. 14 saying that “The people of Kaohsiung have sworn to take revenge and kill Han Kuo-yu.”

According to the CIB, police launched an investigation as soon as the comment was reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Organizer of Taiwan Olympic name referendum sues Olympic committee chief

Athletes will be allowed to take part in the Olympics no matter the outcome of the vote: Chen

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/23
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – One of the organizers behind Saturday’s referendum about

Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee Chairman Lin Hong-dow. (By Central News Agency)

the use of the name “Taiwan” by the country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics went to court Friday to sue the chairman of the country’s Olympic committee over the latter’s claim that the vote might endanger Taiwan’s participation in the games.

One of 10 referendums up for a vote Saturday asks whether Taiwan should dump the term “Chinese Taipei” under which it is forced to take part in international sports events due to pressure from China and just participate as “Taiwan” instead.

Earlier in the week, Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee Chairman Lin Hong-dow (林鴻道) rallied a number of athletes to oppose the referendum, saying the change might lead to the complete exclusion of the Taiwanese team from the next Olympics.

One of the referendum organizers, former Health Minister Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興), went to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office Friday to sue Lin for a range of items such as forgery and breach of trust, accusing him of misleading the athletes and the public.    [FULL  STORY]

AIT designates 2019 as a ‘travel year’ for Taiwan, U.S.

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/23
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen (second row, seventh left) / image taken from AIT Facebook

Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) Next year will be a “travel year” between Taiwan and the United States to celebrate the Taiwan Relations Act’s 40th anniversary, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said Friday.

The tourism program will introduce various activities and campaigns to promote two-way travel between Taiwan and the U.S., Christensen said while attending the opening of the USA Pavilion at the 2018 Taipei International Travel Fair, the biggest travel fair in Taiwan.

It will be one of several activities to celebrate the U.S. Congress’ passage of the act in 1979 after Washington severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan, he said.

Christensen also lauded Taiwan’s participation in two American “Trusted Traveler” programs, which he credited for boosting visits by Taiwanese to the United States.
[FULL  STORY]

2018 ELECTIONS: Kaohsiung candidates stage last rallies

FERVENT SUPPORT: Hundreds of thousands of people attended the events, where DPP candidate Chen called for justice and the KMT’s Han vowed to revitalize the city

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 24, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

With the Kaohsiung mayoral election having become a flashpoint of the nine-in-one

Tens of thousands of supporters of Democratic Progressive Party Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai attend his election-eve campaign rally in the city yesterday.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times

local elections, the candidates from the two largest political parties last night made a last-ditch effort with large-scale campaign rallies ahead of today’s vote.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) urged his supporters at his election-eve rally to get justice for Kaohsiung and for the city’s three-term former mayor, Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊), by voting today.

“Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) called her [Chen Chu] a ‘fat sow’ and [KMT Kaohsiung mayoral candidate] Han Kuo-yu [韓國瑜] described Kaohsiung as an old and poor city,” Chen Chi-mai said.

“Let us translate our anger into action and use our ballots to safeguard Kaohsiung, to show Chen Chu that we care about her and to get justice for the city,” he said, adding that without the sacrifice of Chen Chu and other democracy pioneers in the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident, Taiwan’s democracy would not have made it to where it is today.    [FULL  STORY]