The News Lens
Date: 2018/05/04
By: Nick Aspinwall

In the aftermath of Saturday’s Chin Poon fire, workers’ rights and firefighter’s groups are demanding a streamlined approach to safety at industrial sites – and are calling on Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor to step up.

Tuesday’s May Day labor protests brought several thousand workers and union members to the streets of Taipei. Protestors demanded wage hikes across the board in response to stagnant salariesand called for a referendum to reverse recent changes to the Labor Standards Act (LSA) which granted employers more flexibility in managing overtime pay, mandatory leave, and rest days.

The rally was also attended by firefighters, who called for better workplace safety standards and labor inspections at potential industrial fire sites – demands which are particularly poignant after last Saturday’s Chin Poon (敬鵬工業) factory fire in Taoyuan claimed the lives of five firemen and two Thai migrant workers.

Credit: David GreenProtesters gather on the side of the Legislative Yuan to petition the government for improved labor rights during the May 1 protests in Taipei.
According to Ministry of Labor (MoL) data, Chin Poon has been fined 10 times since last year for violations of the LSA and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Control Yuan member Kao Feng-hsien (高鳳仙) said the factory contained highly flammable and explosive materials, making it difficult to safely fight the fire.
[FULL  STORY]

Presence of the upgraded jets is possibly only temporary, from April to September
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Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Air Force has moved Indigenous Defense Fighters (經國號)

C/D jets into a base in Penghu County, in the middle of the Taiwan Strait, as part of a project to monitor military activity in the area, according to a report by the Chinese-language United Daily News.

The move comes as China has repeatedly sent military planes and vessels, including its aircraft carrier the Liaoning, into areas close to Taiwan, including the Taiwan Strait. Last February, the communist country suddenly, without consulting Taiwan, opened the M503 flight route, which allowed Chinese flights to fly close to the median line in the Taiwan Strait, a practice which Taiwan opposes due to national security considerations.

At the time, the Air Force said there were no plans to station IDF jets in Penghu permanently, but they could be moved there if the need arose.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/04
By: Su Mu-chun and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, May 4 (CNA) The Ministry of Justice’s Agency of Corrections approved Friday an application by former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to have his medical parole extended to Aug. 4, the 14th time he has extended his time outside the Taichung Prison for medical reasons.

Lee Chin-kuo (李進國), deputy warden at the Taichung Prison, which is responsible for Chen’s jail sentence, told reporters that the diagnosis from the Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and the MacKay Memorial Hospital in Taipei found the former president’s condition to be complicated and difficult to control, which is why it cannot treated while he is in prison.

The Agency of Corrections therefore gave him another three-month extension, which went into effect immediately.    [FULL  STORY]

INTERFERENCE? The committee reviewing the acquisition of TBC was told that an investor looking to manage a cable TV network from overseas was a risk, FTV said

Taipei Times
Date: May 05, 2018
By: Tseng Te-jung and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Formosa TV (FTV, 民視) has accused Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) chairman Terry Gou (郭台

銘) of politically motivated censorship of the media after Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC, 台灣寬頻通訊) cut access to FTV-owned channels yesterday morning.

TBC said it removed the channels Formosa News, Formosa Taiwan and Follow Me TV from its service because FTV had not authorized TBC to use its channels.

FTV last year packaged the three channels in one deal, but TBC only wished to broadcast Formosa News.

An inability to arrive at a solution necessitated National Communication Commission (NCC) intervention. The NCC ordered FTV to grant TBC temporary access to its channels until May 15.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese prosecutors reach out to Hong Kong authorities to collect DNA from the suspect who is being held on theft charges in the city

South China Morning Post 
Date: 03 May, 2018
By: Lawrence Chung 

A Hong Kong woman who was allegedly murdered by her 19-year-old boyfriend while on holiday in Taiwan was three months pregnant when she was killed, Taiwanese prosecutors said on Thursday.

Based on this new information, prosecutors will ask Hong Kong police to collect DNA from the suspect, Chan Tong-kai, who is being held in Hong Kong on charges of theft and handling stolen goods.

An autopsy revealed a tiny skeleton in the body of Poon Hiu-wing, Wu Yi-ming, Shihlin Prosecutors Office spokesman, said. “We want to ask for help from authorities in Hong Kong to collect the DNA samples from Mr Chan for us to compare with those of the skeleton.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-03

Health minister Chen Shih-chung and his delegation will hold meetings and events on the

sidelines of the upcoming World Health Assembly. The World Health Assembly or WHA is the convening body of the World Health Organization. It meets once a year and will meet later this month in Geneva. But Taiwan has not received an invitation to the event due to pressure from China.

Health official Hsu Min-huei said Thursday that the team will hold meetings with representatives of Taiwan’s allies. Hsu said the team will also hold a forum with the World Medical Association on the WHA’s theme for the year – universal health coverage (UHC).

Hsu said, “The first point is we are a model for universal health coverage. The second point is that UHC is universal care. Why should 23 million people in Taiwan be left out? We want to make sure that the world hears us.”    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan has only 19 official friends left as the Dominican Republic gets wooed by Chinese highways.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/05/03
By: Stellina Chen

And then there were 19. The Dominican Republic on Tuesday severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established relations with China, tracking regional neighbors Panama (June 2017), and Costa Rica (June 2007), as well as African nation São Tomé and Príncipe (December 2016), in succumbing to the lure of red dollar diplomacy.

Reuters reported that China offered US$3.1 billion worth of investments and cut-price loans to entice Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina to turn his back on Taiwan, a sum that Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) referred to as “an astronomical number” while expressing Taiwan’s deep sadness at the move.

The Reuters report, which cited an unnamed Taiwanese official as a source, added that the package included promises to build a US$400-million freeway, as well as US$1.6 billion for infrastructure projects and US$300 million for a new natural gas power plant. These investments would supplement a US$10-million aluminium tubing facility that opened in April, the first Chinese plant to break ground in the Caribbean country.

In any case, Santo Domingo had been inching away from Taiwan for several years, and perhaps the departure of such fickle friends is no great loss to Taiwan, even as the ongoing boxing of its interests by Beijing, spurred by the Communist Party’s antipathy to the administration of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), is hard to stomach.
[FULL  STORY]

CIB cracking down on violent crimes

Focus Taiwan  
Date: 2018/05/03
By: Te’Qin Windham,Central News Agency

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – During recent raids, 310 suspected gang members have been

arrested throughout Taiwan amid the latest crackdown on organized crime, reported the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Wednesday.

The Central News Agency reported that a major reason for the recent attention to gangs and violent crimes was to prevent manipulation of the upcoming local and municipal elections taking place in November. Police also want to ensure people’s safety and the security of the streets.

Starting April 30, Taiwanese police raided various organized crime groups, including subdivisions of the “Bamboo Union,” the “Heavenly Alliance,” and other violent crime gangs. According to the CIB, of arrested suspects, 41 were high-ranking members of these crime groups and the remaining 269 were regular members.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/03
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, May 3 (CNA) Although Taiwan appears to have made significant progress toward

workplace gender equality, most working mothers feel that they face an unfriendly workplace environment, according to a yes123 online job bank survey released Thursday.

The poll on the pressure facing working mothers and their career planning reveals that 86 percent could not strike a balance between work and family and 81 percent have quarreled with their husbands over how to raise their children, while 60 percent have argued with their husbands over work issues.

It also shows that 59 percent of the respondents feel that Taiwan’s workplace environment is not friendly to working mothers and 62 percent revealed that their companies have deliberately made things difficult when they have applied to take personal leave from work for their children.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-02

President Tsai Ing-wen has outlined recent improvements in conditions for Taiwan’s

workers and promised better salaries and workplace protections.

President Tsai marked Labor Day on Tuesday by honoring exemplary workers from around Taiwan.

Speaking to the workers, Tsai said that the two years of her administration have seen the minimum wage raised twice and guarantees of days off and overtime pay put into effect. She also said the government will hire a growing number of inspectors to ensure that employers comply with labor laws.

Tsai said that the government will continue building on these achievements. She said the government will work to raise wages by continuing to increase the minimum wage. She also said that the government will lead the way, with civil servants set to receive higher salaries. Tsai also promised better conditions for Taiwan’s workers, including improvements to work safety and workplace protections.    [FULL  STORY]