ALL IN: The Taiwan Steel and Iron Industries Association urged the government to seek a US exemption, as last year it was the largest buyer of Taiwan’s steel products

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 10, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwan is to seek negotiations with the US on tariffs to be implemented on steel and

Hot-rolled steel coils are pictured at a Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp factory in Vietnam on Dec. 13 last year.  Photo courtesy of Formosa Plastics Group

aluminum imports into the US, in a bid to protect the interests of Taiwanese exporters, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday.

A statement issued by the Bureau of Foreign Trade on behalf of the ministry said that the ministry would closely watch measures announced by the White House on Thursday on the tariff issue and demand that Washington enter talks with Taipei.

In addition, the ministry said it would watch closely how other US trading partners react to the tariffs and would exchange views with them under WTO guidelines.

US President Donald Trump signed an order under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on Thursday to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-08

Taiwan’s envoy to Germany on Wednesday said he has written to German companies to

Taiwan’s envoy to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey (standing) on Wednesday said he has written to German companies to demand a correction for listing Taiwan as part of China. (CNA file photo)

demand a correction for listing Taiwan as part of China.

Shieh Jhy-wey was referring to Lufthansa and Mercedes-Benz, which have listed Taiwan on their websites as “Taiwan, China”. Bosch uses “Taiwan (China)” on its website. Their Chinese websites also have the same names.

Shieh said those companies have come under pressure from China. He said Beijing’s move has become a global phenomenon. Relations between Taiwan and China have been strained since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.

Meanwhile, foreign ministry spokesperson Andrew Lee said Thursday that his office will continue to pay close attention to the situation. Lee said it is important for the ministry to protect Taiwan’s dignity and interests.    [SOURCE]

The accident took place between a truck and two cars near Chiayi

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/08
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — According to a report by the Central News Agency, an Indonesian woman was killed in an accident that took place on a highway in Chiayi on Wednesday.

The accident took place on Highway 145 between a truck and two cars, the victim, a new Indonesian immigrant who was known in Chinese as Chen (陳) and was driving one of the cars involved in the accident, died shortly after being rushed to the nearest hospital.

According to the statement made by Chang Chih-fu (張志福), head of the Singang Township police station, the CCTV footage capturing the accident revealed that a white car entered the highway and hit the side of the truck which then struck the silver car Chen was driving, coming from the opposite direction.

Chang also mentioned that both the cars were severely damaged while the truck ended up rolling over a nearby rice field.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/08
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 8 (CNA) More than half of Taiwanese women would view sexual harassment

Image taken from Pixabay

in the workplace as a joke and would take no action, according to a poll released by the Ministry of Labor on Thursday, International Women’s Day.

It was also found that 4.4 percent of women and 4 percent of men in Taiwan had suffered sexual harassment on the job over one-year period leading up to the September 2017 poll.

Among the female workers, the sexual harassment came mainly from co-workers (47.7 percent), customers (38.6 percent) and supervisors (25.0 percent), according to the poll.

Asked about their response if they were subjected to sexual harassment on the job, 54.7 percent of the women polled said they would laugh it off and take no action, while 33.4 percent said they would file a complaint.    [FULL  STORY]

LOWERED: The punishment for murdering a close relative is to be lowered to 15 years in prison because some defendants may have been subjected to abuse by their victim

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 09, 2018
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

The Cabinet yesterday approved a bill to abolish the statute of limitations for serious

Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san speaks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday.  Photo: CNA

criminal offenses, with the current 30-year limit for crimes punishable by death or life sentence to be abolished.

A set of amendments to the Criminal Code have been approved to abolish the statute of limitations for crimes punishable by death, life imprisonment or a prison sentence of at least 10 years if any death is caused due to the crimes, the Ministry of Justice said.

Under the proposed amendments, investigations into at least two unsolved cases that occurred in 1996 — a mass shooting at the home of then-Taoyuan County commissioner Liu Pang-yu (劉邦友) and the murder of prominent women’s rights activist Peng Wan-ju (彭婉如) — would be able to continue indefinitely, Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said.

The punishment for murdering a close relative is to be lowered to a minimum 15 years in prison from the current minimum sentence of life imprisonment because some defendants had been found to have been subjected to abuse by their victims, often their parents, the ministry said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-07

The justice minister, Chiu Tai-san, says his ministry wants to give victims of crime more

Justice Minister Chiu Tai-san appears in this CNA file photo.

protection through a change to the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Chiu was speaking Wednesday at an event organized by an association for victims of crime.

The minister said efforts to protect the rights of victims over the past twenty years have been outpaced by measures to protect the rights of defendants.

Chiu said that the issue of protecting crime victims was placed on the agenda for last year’s National Conference on Judicial Reform at the suggestion of President Tsai Ing-wen. He said the justice ministry’s proposed revision to the Code of Criminal Procedure will give a greater voice to crime victims.    [SOURCE]

Foreigners shouldn’t expect government-sponsored discounts when heading to Hualien, but your mileage may vary.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/03/07
Morley J Weston

photo credit: Reuters/達志影像

A push by Hualien County Magistrate Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) to offer accommodation vouchers as a way to revive tourism after the deadly Feb. 6 earthquake have received a confused welcome from the hospitality industry they are designed to help.

The vouchers came into effect March 6 as a means to revive a local economy devastated by the impact of the quake.

The program, explained through Microsoft Word documents on The Taiwan Tourism Bureau’s website, allows independent travelers in groups of three to 19 to receive vouchers of NT$500 (US$17) per person per night to stay in hotels in Hualien County. Separate discounts exist for groups of 20 or more.

The Tourism Bureau’s website states that these hotel vouchers are only available to ROC citizens. But word hasn’t gotten out, apparently – of eight hotels contacted by The News Lens, three insisted that foreigners were eligible for the discount, and one said that the offer was only valid for large groups.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese authorities confirmed on Tuesday that a fishing vessel was chased by the Japanese Coast Guard for operating outside the agreed fishing zone

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/07
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A member of Taiwan’s pro-China political party splashed red

Law enforcement has been reinforced after a man splashed paint on the signboard of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in protest (By Central News Agency)

paint on the signboard of Japan’s semi-diplomatic office in Taipei Wednesday in protest against the country’s response to a Taiwanese finishing vessel that had violated the agreement between the two countries.

Chen Chin-fung (陳清峰) was arrested by the police minutes after he splashed the paint and bellowed out offensive words in front of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA), reported the Liberty Times.

Chen’s Unionist Party (中華統一促進黨) comrade, Lee Chen-long (李承龍), said Chen intended to lodge a protest against the Japanese authorities for their handling of the incident involving the “Tung Pan Chiu No. 28” (東半球28號) fishing vessel, since “the Taiwan government has not done anything yet.”

However, after an investigation into the incident was conducted, the country’s Fishery Agency confirmed on Tuesday that the Tung Pan Chiu No. 28 had operated outside the agreed fishing zone specified in the 2013 Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/07
By Sunrise Huang and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, March 7 (CNA) New residents of New Taipei will now gain a chance to win a studio

CNA file photo

apartment, among other prizes, when they establish their household registration in the city, Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said Wednesday.

Announcing the lottery, Chu said the city government is offering incentives for people to move to New Taipei and help build its population to at least 4 million.

With that goal in mind, the city government will hold a draw at end of every 1,000 new household registrations, offering a grand prize each time of an 18-ping (59.4 square meter) studio apartment in Tamsui District, valued at NT$4.57 million (US$156,000), Chu said.

He said other prizes in the lottery will include gold in amounts of 75 and 37.5 grams, an electric scooter, and other high-value items provided by corporate sponsors.
[FULL  STORY]