Taiwanese among 36 Asian women secretly filmed in American MMA fighter’s porn videos

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/15
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese women are among the 36 Asian women an American

mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and self-proclaimed “pick-up artist” who have unwittingly appeared in his pornographic videos online.

A Taiwanese woman yesterday on the Facebook group Breaking News Commune (爆料公社) posted a warning that a 32-year-old American MMA fighter named Jaymes Schulte has been secretly filming one-night-stands with Taiwanese women and posting them on a porn website for profit. It is not clear whether she was also a victim of these alleged unauthorized videos.

She also said that the names and descriptions of the videos contain obscene and degrading language and she fears many Taiwanese women have been victimized. She reminded any women that come in contact with him to be extremely cautious and if they discover they have been included in any of his videos online, they should contact the authorities immediately.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/15
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, March 15 (CNA) Taiwan is joining the “Me Too” movement that has become a global campaign to raise awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, by setting up a website and hotline to give victims of such crimes a platform to stand up and be heard.

The Taiwan Women’s Link, the Taipei Association for the Promotion of Women’s Rights, the Taiwan Occupational Safety and Health Link, and End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism-Taiwan announced the launch of the support channels at a press conference held Thursday.

According to the Taiwan Women’s Link, victims of sexual assault and harassment often stay silent for a number of reasons, including fear of backlash, shame, lack of privacy and repeat attacks.
[FULL  STORY]

‘PERNG FAI-NAN LINE’: Yang said that the central bank does not currently have, or has ever had, a fixed limit on the NT dollar’s appreciation against the US dollar

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 16, 2018
By: Jonathan Chin  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) yesterday said the

bank would remove authoritarian icons from the nation’s currency if explicit orders were given by the transitional justice promotion committee to be established by the Executive Yuan.

Yang made the remark at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee, after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) asked whether the passage of the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) would prompt changes to the design of the nation’s currency.

Although the act was promulgated last year, the central bank cannot make changes before the transitional justice promotion committee specifies which banknotes or coins contain authoritarian imagery, Yang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-14

Interior Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong says that police will take a case-by-case approach when it

comes to deciding whether protesters have broken the law.

Yeh was speaking at the legislature on Wednesday amid concerns about a Taiwan High Court ruling, which found 22 protesters not guilty of obstructing official business. The protesters were part of the Sunflower Student Movement, which occupied the legislature for nearly a month in March and April, 2014.
[FULL  STORY]

The Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Arts in Kaohisung City, which is slated to open in October, on Wednesday showed off a German-made pipe organ in the Concert Hall, reportedly the grandest such instrument in Asia

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/14
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–The Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Arts in Kaohisung City, which is slated to open in October, on Wednesday showed off a German-made pipe organ in the Concert Hall, reportedly the grandest such instrument in Asia.

Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Kaohsiung Chen Chu (陳菊) made an inspection tour around the center, which has an area of 10 hectares and consists of four indoors venues: Opera House, Concert Hall, Playhouse, Recital Hall and an open-air theater. Other amenities include outdoor plaza, restaurants, gift shops, multi-purpose room, rooftop observatory and parking space, etc.

The Concert Hall is in vineyard style and houses 2,000 seats, according to an introduction on the Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Arts website. With the seating on all sides of the concert platform, audience members are positioned in close proximity to artists and able to experience intimate performances, the introduction said.

The acoustic canopy from the ceiling is adjustable so the hall can adapt for different musical performances, using different heights and angles to achieve excellent quality of sound, according to the introduction. During Wednesday’s inspection, a quartet performed in the concert hall with the acoustic canopy lowered, which reportedly had achieved a sound effect like music coming out of headsets.      [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/14
By: Kuan-lin Liu and Huang Ya-shih

Vatican City, March 14 (CNA) Liao Wu-jyh (廖武治), president of the Dalongdong Baoan

Temple in Taipei, delivered a letter Wednesday to Pope Francis urging him to continue to maintain diplomatic ties between Taiwan and the Holy See.

The letter, delivered during a visit by Liao to attend an interfaith dialogue, mentioned the 75 years of friendship between the two countries, as well as Taiwan’s commitment to protecting religious freedom, one of their key shared values.

To that end, Liao expressed hope that the pope will look at the long relationship and continue to maintain diplomatic ties.

Liao’s plea comes at a time when many international media outlets have reported that China and the Vatican are close to signing a breakthrough agreement on the appointment of bishops in China.
[FULL  STORY]

FOR AND AGAINST: Those opposed to the building of the plant want further research into environmental impacts, while those in support say it is safer than natural gas power

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 15, 2018
By: Yang Mien-chieh and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Environmental groups and local residents rallied in front of the Environmental Protection

Administration (EPA) building in Taipei yesterday afternoon to protest an imminent review of a project to establish a new Shenao coal-fired power plant in New Taipei City.

The old power plant was decommissioned and torn down in 2007 due to its environmental impact on Fanzaiao Bay (番仔澳灣) and fishermen in the region.

Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) last year suggested reestablishing the plant to satisfy electricity demands in northern Taiwan, with plans to install a 600,000 kilowatt coal-fired ultra-supercritical pressure boiler in Shenao Bay (身澳灣).

Reviewed three times since its proposal, the ultimate decision of whether to send back Taipower’s environmental impact statements due to changes made after the assessment, or approve the plant after modifications, was returned to the EPA’s environmental assessment committee, which started another review yesterday.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-13

The foreign ministry says it is closely watching the Vatican’s ongoing talks with Beijing

over the right to appoint Chinese bishops.

The Vatican is Taiwan’s sole diplomatic ally in Europe.

On Tuesday, the foreign ministry’s chief of European affairs, Anna Kao, said Taiwan understands that the Vatican’s goals in the talks are spiritual. She said Taiwan will continue monitoring developments in the Vatican’s dialogue with China.

Kao also said that Taiwan is working to deepen its ties with the Holy See. She said the two sides plan to hold a number of events both this year and next year.    [FULL  STORY]

Government plans to bring down greenhouse gases do not go far enough.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/03/13
By: Timothy Ferry

Although Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and did not sign the Paris Accord, Taiwan has nevertheless developed its own plan to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint in line with international efforts and with an awareness of its own vulnerabilities.

“Taiwan is an island country with high vulnerability to serious and immediate climate change threats,” the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) noted in a written

reply to Taiwan Business TOPICS. “In response to calls for global climate action, Taiwan has passed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (GHG Act), followed by the National Climate Change Action Guidelines.”

The GHG Act calls for GHG reduction based on 2005 GHG emissions levels. The GHG Act calls for emissions to decline 5 percent by 2020, 10 percent by 2025, 20 percent by 2030, and 50 percent by 2050. “Taiwan is a member of the global village, and combating climate change is one of the EPA’s top priorities,” says Taiwan EPA Minister Lee Ying-yuan.

The measures are aimed at ensuring Taiwan’s long-term sustainable development while reducing GHG emissions and are “in line with the Paris Agreement,” according to the written statement.    [FULL  STORY]

Fines and prison sentences to be toughened up

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The government will not decriminalize drugs but on the contrary,

toughen sanctions against drug dealers, Premier William Lai (賴清德) told lawmakers Tuesday.

Responding to concern from legislators that the government was about to change its policies, Lai said that according to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) statements, the current policy of trying to stop the import of illegal drugs and of persuading addicts to kick off would continue, with prospects for a more effective fight including tougher punishment.

Arrests would move upstream from dealers to manufacturers, while efforts at dissuasion would expand to include communities, schools and guards at apartment buildings, the Central News Agency reported.    [FULL  STORY]