Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-10-29

President Tai Ing-wen spoke on Monday about the importance of promoting Hakka culture

and strengthening suicide prevention programs.

Tsai met with a visiting delegation from the Asia Taiwanese Hakka Association at the Presidential Office. She said that her administration has been working hard to promote Hakka culture. The effort includes amending the Hakka Basic Act and establishing a national Hakka radio station. She said the government will continue to promote the Hakka language and culture in education, as well as in other aspects of life.
[FULL  STORY]

Call 110 and file a report with the police, no matter the severity of the accident.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/29
律師談吉他由雷皓明律師主持，與MedPartner美的好朋友聯手合作，整理法律知識於LawPartner法律好朋友網站。致力於用簡單、親切的語言，分析新聞時事的法律議題，提供民眾實用的法律小知識。

When people have car accidents, it is standard practice to report the incident – regardless of whether or not you are at fault. In Taiwan, making this report by calling 110 and notifying the police is crucial. We asked a lawyer to explain what you should do if you wind up in an accident, whether you’re a driver or merely a pedestrian on one of Taiwan’s dangerous crosswalks.

What reporting an incident involves and why you should do so

Many people think notifying the police of a car accident helps authorities make a fair judgment on the incident. However, when you notify the police, all they can do is follow Taiwanese regulations to record, investigate and check for evidence at the scene of the accident.

Police do not make judgments on who is responsible for an auto accident.

According to Articles 9 and 10 of the Regulations Governing Road Traffic Cases, when police receive notice of a car accident, they will:    [FULL  STORY]

 

Janitor admits to choking female NCKU grad student after she refused to lend him NT$2,000

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/29
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A janitor arrested by police this morning on suspicion of murdering a 24-year-old female National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) admitted that he choked the woman after she refused to lend him NT$2,000 (US$65), reported CNA.

At 6 a.m. this morning, police arrested a 42-year-old male custodian surnamed Lin (林) at his former father-in-law’s residence in Tainan’s Rende District for the alleged murder of a NCKU graduate student surnamed Chen (陳) yesterday (Oct. 28). While being questioned by police, Lin said that he had borrowed NT$1,000 from Chen in the past, but this time when asked her to lend him NT$2,000, she refused and an argument ensued, and Lin admits that he then started to choke Chen, but he says he did not know that she was dead when he left.

According to a police investigation, Lin has been divorced for many years, has a criminal record, and has one daughter. In January of 2016, Lin found a job as a janitor at NCKU through an employment agency for people with disabilities.

In September of that year, he was hired as an outside contract cleaner and after September, he was hired by the Institute of Education as a temporary worker. Because his vision is impaired in his left eye, he was admitted as a “physically disabled” employee with a monthly salary of NT$22,000.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/29
By: Chen Wei-ting and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) The use of a batch of a children’s influenza vaccine manufactured

by Taiwan-based vaccine maker Adimmune Corp. has been suspended after suspended matter was found in the product, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Monday.

Kaohsiung’s health department reported Sunday that a clinic in the city noticed white suspended matter in a dose of flu vaccine from batch FKAE1802 made by Adimmune Corp., CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said at a press conference.

Some 82,000 doses (0.25ml) from this batch of vaccine have been delivered to the CDC, and about 48,000 doses have been distributed to health departments in Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung cities and Pingtung, Hualien, Taitung, Penghu and Kinmen counties as part of a free public immunization program, Chuang said.   [FULL  STORY]

EXCHANGES: The ministry aims to increase the number of students from ASEAN and India from 41,000 to 50,000, and send 5,000 Taiwanese students abroad next year

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 30, 2018
By: Rachel Lin and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has budgeted NT$1.58 billion (US$50.97 million) for

personnel training next year as part of its response to the government’s New Southbound Policy.

It also plans to spend NT$450 million on student recruitment and subsidies to increase the number of students from ASEAN and India, and to help Taiwanese students enter internships and research programs there.

Its long-term plans include subsidizing up to 10,000 students studying abroad by 2021 to increase the international competitiveness of Taiwanese students, the ministry said.

The number of foreign students at the nation’s higher education institutions hit a record 117,970 last year, ministry data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Event takes place a month before referendum on same-sex marriage

Independent
Date: Oct 28, 2018
By: Sabrina Barr

Thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei to march in the annual Taiwan Gay Pride Parade.

This year’s LGBT+  event took place a month before a historic vote on same-sex marriage, which is due to take place in the country on November 24.

The government ruled that same-sex couples had a legal right to marry in May.

It said that the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the state would come into effect after two years.    [FULL  STORY]

Defense minister warns China opposes displays of strength and “provocations” from countries outside the region on South China Sea issue

Asia Times
Date: October 28, 2018
By: Bertil Lintner

China’s defense minister Wei Fenghe said on October 25 that Beijing is prepared to take military action to prevent any attempt to separate Taiwan from the mainland.

According to Reuters and other news agencies, Wei also said: “The Taiwan issue is related to China’s sovereignty and touches upon China’s core interests … on this issue, it is extremely dangerous to challenge China’s bottom line.”

That line would be if Taiwan, now known officially as the Republic of China, declared itself as the Republic of Taiwan.

Beijing’s relations with Taipei have been particularly strained since the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, came to power in 2016.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan to buy M777 howitzer artillery to bolster anti-amphibious assault capability, reports suggest

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/28
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

U.S. military using M777 howitzer in Afghanistan, 2009 (By Wikimedia Commons)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan is set to buy a number M777 howitzer artillery to replace the older M113 155 millimeter armored personnel carrier, according to Apple Daily.

The plan reportedly codenamed “accurate thunder clap” (銳霆) is part of the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) ongoing strategy to confront and dissolve a potential amphibious assault, the report said.

Previous reports suggest the MND began considering upgrading its artillery after a review of the the annual Han Kuang live-fire drills in 2017.

The MND initially considered purchasing a suite of M777 and M109A6 howitzers, but after purchasing the M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks, the military decided to postpone the M109A6 purchase, and instead focus on M777 howitzer and M982 Excalibur guided artillery shell, the report said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: 2018/10/28
By: Chen Wei-ting, Wu Hsin-yun, Su Mu-chun and Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) All 18 Puyuma express trains have been extensively tested in the

wake of the deadly derailment on Oct. 21 and no defect has been found that impacts the safety of the service, Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said Sunday.

Every train has undergone testing for faults in its running gear, transmission devices, pantograph apparatus, power systems, protection systems, connectors, high-voltage insulators, extinguishers and auxiliary parts, to ensure their structural and operational integrity, TRA said in a text message, without providing further details.

The findings will be presented to the task force established by the Executive Yuan to investigate the derailment of Puyuma express No. 6432 in Yilan on Oct. 21 that left 18 people dead and 210 injured, TRA said.

However, fresh questions have been raised about the safety of Puyuma express trains, the fastest model operated by TRA, following the accident — the deadliest in nearly three decades — in the wake of numerous reports about mechanical glitches the trains have experienced in the past.    [FULL  STORY]