Police nab Thai, Chinese prostitutes in apartment in Taipei’s Guangzhou Street Night Market

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/07
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Thai woman, Chinese woman, and Taiwanese man were arrested on Monday (Nov. 5) in connection with a call girl operation in Taipei City’s Guangzhou Street Night Market, reported Apple Daily.

The Wanhua Taipei City Government Police Bureau has recently received numerous reports in its jurisdiction of sex traffickers luring customers for prostitution and recruiting women from overseas to work in the sex trade under the guise of tourism and cosmetic surgery. The bureau also received reports of numerous foreign prostitutes seen soliciting passersby inside the Guangzhou Street Night Market in Taipei’s Wanhua District.

On the evening of Nov. 5, police obtained a search warrant and raided an apartment next to the Guangzhou Street Night Market that was being used as a call girl hub to lure customers and dispatch prostitutes. Inside the apartment, police found a 19-year-old Thai call girl, who went by the alias “Pengpeng” (澎澎), a 38-year-old Chinese woman, surnamed Ching (青), and a Taiwanese man managing the operation, surnamed Hsieh (謝).

According to an initial investigation, the call center operators would post ads for sexual services online and use the social media app LINE to lure customers. The ads would boast “I provide professional services others don’t,” and would include the prostitute’s photos, age, measurements, services offered, and price.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/07
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) None of the six diplomatic allies of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in

the South Pacific will take part in a China-hosted summit in the region to be held Nov. 16, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said Wednesday.

Taiwan’s six allies in the South Pacific — Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu — were invited to the China-Pacific Islands summit ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Papua New Guinea, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) confirmed at a legislative hearing.

But none of them have agreed to attend, said Chang Chun-yu (張均宇), deputy head of the MOFA’s Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, at the same hearing.

“We therefore believe the Beijing-organized summit will not affect Taiwan’s relations with its diplomatic allies in the region,” Chang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 08, 2018
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Starting next month, broadcast media can only air commercials featuring alcoholic

beverages between 9pm and 6am, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.

The policy would apply to radio stations and channels on both terrestrial TV stations and cable TV systems, NCC spokesperson Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said, adding that it would not differentiate between commercials for beer, wine, spirits or medicinal wine.

Although television channels currently air commercials for alcoholic beverages between 9pm and 6am, radio stations can broadcast this type of commercial between 9am and 5pm on school days, only needing to switch to between 9:30pm and 6am on weekends, national holidays, and during winter and summer vacations.

“The time slots stipulated are different for radio stations than for television channels, and the commission decided that all broadcast media should follow the same rule, broadcasting commercials for alcoholic beverages during identical time slots,” he said.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 06 November, 2018
By: jvantrieste

Premier William Lai has inaugurated a new anti-drug campaign to be spearheaded by a fleet of four trucks.

The trucks will travel through Taiwan, bringing lecturers and materials to educate people about drugs and their dangers. A focus of the campaign is on remote and mountainous areas of Taiwan.

At a press conference held to launch the campaign Tuesday, Lai underscored the government’s commitment to fight drugs. He stood before a large sign featuring the Chinese character for “drugs” or “poison” crossed out.    [FULL  STORY]

‘Queer Asia’ features the proud, vibrant LGBTQ communities of Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines & Vietnam.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/11/06
By: Jay Lin

Editor’s note: Jay Lin, a longtime LGBTQ advocate and producer of “Queer Taiwan,” shares his journey to launching Asia’s first international LGBTQ docuseries, “Queer Asia.” All episodes of “Queer Asia” are available for free in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong/Macau, and Taiwan on GagaOOlala. ​​​​​​

The genesis of Queer Asia started with an online GagaTai & LalaTai video campaign called “Out People,” where we interviewed several out and proud, unique individuals (15 and counting). We asked them to share their life stories, professional background, and perspectives on being openly gay in Taiwan. With each video release, we garnered increasingly more positive feedback.

After finishing the first initial round of the campaign, I yearned to continue to share personal stories and lives of the LGBTQ community. I realized that these authentic voices provide the best conduit to, first and foremost, make mainstream society acknowledge that LGBTQ people are everywhere and in all walks of life and secondly, to encourage those in the closet to find the comfort and courage to come out.

Starting in 2016, I have been involved with the Taiwan Marriage Equality Coalition, campaigning for the passage of the Gay Marriage Bill. It was also during this period that I became a dad to twin boys through surrogacy.    [FULL  STORY]

Police say the body, whose wrists were bound, was likely floating in the floodway for months before discovery

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/06
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A male body was discovered in the Erchong Floodway, near a dam close to the Shuhong Ecological Park, around noon Tuesday, Nov. 6 in New Taipei’s Luzhou District.

According to reports, the body had been decomposing for some time and was thoroughly putrefied. The body’s wrists were also bound with zip ties.

Initial investigation suggests that body had been floating in the water for several months before discovery.

The police are currently conducting an investigation to determine the man’s identity and the cause of death.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/06
By: Lee Hsin-Yin 

Taipei, Nov. 6 (CNA) Dozens of flight attendants protested Tuesday against overwork and accused Taiwan’s aviation regulator, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), of colluding with local airlines to deprive them of their labor rights.

The protesters outside the CAA, mostly members of the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU) and the EVA Air and China Airlines corporate unions, urged the agency not to draft a separate act for the aviation industry to legalize what they see as overwork.

“The CAA should also ask EVA Air to adjust its current flight rotations, particularly those to Tokyo, Beijing and Phnom Penh, as work hours on those round-trip flights can easily exceed 12 hours,” said Liao Yi-chin (廖以勤), director of the EVA Air Corporate Union.

The flight attendants are asking to fly to the three destinations on a one-way basis each time to avoid the possibility of overwork, which would mean crews on outbound flights could stay overnight at the foreign destination and work on an inbound flight the next day.
[FULL  STORY]

THE EU CONCERNS: The protesters marched from the Council of Agriculture to the Legislative Yuan, demanding that the government retract the ‘irrational’ regulations

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 07, 2018
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

About 2,800 fishers from Pingtung and Yilan counties yesterday marched in Taipei to

protest against stricter regulations, while civic groups called on the government not to loosen regulations barring illegal fishing activities.

Since Taiwan was given a “yellow card” about illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities by the EU in October 2015, the Council of Agriculture has been trying to get the nation removed from the list by tightening regulations.

Since January last year, when the Act Governing Distant Water Fisheries (遠洋漁業條例), the Act to Govern Investment in the Operation of Foreign Flag Fishing Vessels (投資經營非我國籍漁船管理條例) and amendments to the Fisheries Act (漁業法) took effect, the council has issued fines of more than NT$120 million (US$3.9 million) as of Oct. 25.

The protesters marched from the council building to the Legislative Yuan, demanding that the government retract the “irrational” regulations, pass legislation to specifically govern fishers’ labor standards and increase maritime patrols in the nation’s exclusive economic zones.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Internatrional
Date: November, 2018
By: Natalie Tso

The Christmas season is around the corner and New Taipei City is getting ready to present Taiwan’s biggest light show ever.

New Taipei City’s Christmasland opens on November 16. This year’s events include a Christmas market, fair, pop concerts and the biggest light show over.  Santa Galaxy is this year’s theme and the fantastic light show can be seen on the New Taipei City Hall. It will feature the largest 3D light show in Taiwan. The festive area will be surrounded by rose gold colored lights, Christmas shopping booths, and great places to take pictures. Children can also enjoy riding the Milky Way Express Train and mini UFOs.

Tourism Bureau Director Chen Kuo June says the Santa Galaxy has a psychedelic planet that has interactive art. Chen says the light show art is bound to start a new trend. The 10,000 ping park will be full of Christmas lights, cartoon characters and photo areas for the whole family to enjoy.

There will be a children’s carnival on December 1 and 2 and a pop concert on December 15 and 16. Beginning Nov. 16 from January 1, visitors can go and check out Santa’s Galaxy at New Taipei City’s Christmasland.    [FULL  STORY]

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must be prepared for election day hijinks courtesy of China, writes Courtney Donovan Smith.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/11/05
By: Courtney Donovan Smith (石東文)

“I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this – who will count the votes, and how.” — Joseph Stalin

A friend who is passionate about the workings of Taiwanese democracy recently pointed out privately that with the upcoming concurrent elections and referendums, the Central Election Commission (CEC) was desperately short of people to handle and monitor the voting.

Her comments were alarming on several fronts. Short staffing could cause breakdowns during any (or all) of the voting processes, calling the results into question. Anything – preparing for the voting, handling voters at the booth, processing the results – could potentially fall apart. For example, if there aren’t enough people to handle and process the voters at a polling station, lines could grow, people may roam about unmonitored and some might not even get a chance to vote by the time polls close. Or what if there is a breakdown in processing and tabulating the results?

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was all smiles when she fell at a Taipei mayoral rally for DPP candidate Pasuya Yao (姚文智), but a breakdown in election monitoring on Nov. 24 would be no laughing matter.    [FULL  STORY]