BROKEN PROMISE: Protesters said the government had agreed to hold ample talks before proposing a plan and called for the bill to be bundled with other workers’

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 28, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

The date for finalizing a bill on pension reform for military retirees has been delayed

indefinitely, Premier William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, citing the need for further discussions between the public and responsible agencies.

Lai made the remarks before leaving the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, where he had been scheduled to give an administrative report.

Lai’s report was delayed and the proceedings halted after Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said more communication was required.

The military pension reform bill was initially listed as one of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s top priorities in the legislative session that opened yesterday.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-26

An adorable endangered species known as the red panda has recently become a prized

possession for exotic pet owners. In mid-January, animal rights activists working in the Southeast Asian nation of Laos seized six red pandas that had been smuggled into the country. Although trafficking in red pandas is rare in Laos, this latest incident is a cause for concern.

A cute face with round eyes, reddish brown fur, and a long raccoon like tail… this is the Red Panda. Not much larger than a housecat, it’s become the target of smugglers.

The red panda is native to China and the eastern part of the Himalayas. It’s become an endangered species because its habitat is under threat and that they are susceptible to infectious diseases.    [FULL  STORY]

Xi Jinping’s most recent moves to consolidate power should make China’s neighbors —and the world — very nervous.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/02/26
By: Courtney Donovan Smith (石東文)

With the announcement of the proposed changes to the Chinese constitution, the world

has been rightfully alarmed by the section eliminating term limits on the president, which effectively opens up the possibility of Xi Jinping becoming a leader for life.

He has also proposed enshrining “Xi Jinping Thought” in the constitution, raising his stature equal to that of Mao Zedong, the last truly absolute ruler of China. Xi has been consolidating power for some time across the board using a wide range of tactics, but these constitutional changes appear to signal that Xi’s endgame is coming nearer: ultimate power.

As noted in an article posted here earlier today:

“The timing of the Sunday missive is telling as well. Coming at the beginning of a second term, it both cements for the moment Xi’s overwhelming authority over the party and the government, and also sends a warning to his legion of enemies at the top of the party who have been hit by the anti-corruption campaign: he is not going anywhere.”
[FULL  STORY]

 

Hapless 20-year-old Suzuki driver turns highway into a luxury car demolition derby and is stuck with the repair bill

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/02/26
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After images of a Suzuki which rear-ended into a

Maserati, Ferrari and Nissan surfaced on social media, Taiwanese netizens took pity on the hapless owner of the budget car as he will likely be stuck with an astronomical repair bill.

At 6 p.m., Sunday (Feb. 25) evening, a user of the Facebook group Taiwan News Reporter’s Union Information Platform (台灣新聞記者聯盟資訊平台), surnamed Lin, posted images of a five car pileup at the 214.3 kilometer mark of Freeway No. 3. At 2:50 p.m., a white Suzuki driver is suspected of having rear-ended a Maserati, causing it to collide with a Ferrari, which in turn smashed into a Nissan.

A preliminary investigation by the police found that the owner of the Suzuki was at fault, and thus he must not only foot the bill to repair his own car and the Nissan, but he must also compensate the the owners of the Maserati and Ferrari for the cost of the repairs to their super costly cars. However, the owner of the Suzuki is only 20 years of age, drawing sympathy from many Taiwanese netizens.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/26
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Flor Wang

Taipei, Feb. 26 (CNA) Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into a massive run on toilet paper amid expectations of a price increase in mid-March, and will host a forum on Tuesday to address the issue.

The FTC sent officials to outlets of major hypermarkets looking for evidence that they jointly raised the price of toilet paper to benefit from the huge surge in demand, said FTC deputy chief Perng Shaw-jiin (彭紹瑾) on Monday.

A post on the FTC’s website also urged all parties not to jointly engage in manipulating the price of the item as toilet paper supplies at brick and mortar stores or e-commerce sites were being snatched up by consumers.    [FULL  STORY]

FOUR-YEAR SCHEDULE: The program includes speeding up the ‘fast-screening’ of buildings, and tax benefits, ‘floor space rewards‘ and credit guarantees for loans

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 27, 2018
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

A program to comprehensively examine the earthquake resistance of old buildings, with

the examination of all six-story buildings or higher built before 2000 to be completed in three years, and compulsory reinforcement or reconstruction of problem buildings, was announced by the Cabinet yesterday.

The announcement came a little more than two weeks after the Cabinet said it was mulling a compulsory “health checkup” of older buildings and the establishment of a third-party construction supervision system to improve building safety in the wake of the Feb. 6 earthquake that killed 17 people in Hualien.

The Cabinet is allocating a four-year, NT$6.07 billion (US$207.63 million) budget to cover “fast screening,” resistance analysis, reconstruction, reinforcement and financial aid for buildings built before 2000, Premier William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-25

President Tsai Ing-wen participated in a Holocaust Remembrance Day event in Taipei on

Sunday. It was part of a series of events sponsored by the representative offices of Israel and Germany.

A Jewish prayer service included the lighting of six candles in memory of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. Organizers also screened a documentary about a Republic of China diplomat based in Vienna who risked his life and career to save thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.

The Republic of China is now the official name of the government of Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Vaping Daily
Date: Feb 25, 2018

The government of Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, has proposed an amendment to its Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act that would effectively ban the manufacture and sale of all e-cigarettes and e-cigarette accessories like e-liquid.

The sweeping proposal comes on the heels of new data released by the Taiwanese Ministry of Health and Welfare that show an uptick in the number of adolescent e-cigarette users from 2-2.1% in 2014 to 3.7-4.8%in 2016.

This far-reaching proposal follows in the footsteps of several ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries enacting similar total or partial bans on electronic vaping devices.

Countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, and Thailand have effectively blocked the sale of e-cigarettes, while countries like Vietnam and Malaysia have gone further and have made even the use and possession of vaping devices illegal.    [FULL  STORY]

On February 21, 2018, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced this year’s first 2 human cases of ferret badger bite in Taiwan

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/02/25
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–On February 21, 2018, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control

(Taiwan CDC) announced this year’s first two human cases of ferret badger bite in Taiwan.

Additionally, the ferret badger specimens have been tested positive for rabies by the Animal Health Research Institute of the Council of Agriculture, according to Taiwan CDC.

The victims respectively reside in Guanmiao District, Tainan City and Guangfu Township, Hualien County, and they were respectively bitten by the intruding ferret badger on February 17 and 18. Both victims have sought medical attention and were not experiencing any symptoms at the time of the announcement, the agency said, adding that the local health authority would assist the victims in completing the full course of rabies vaccination and follow up on them.

The agency said that in Taiwan, several human cases of ferret badger bite are reported every year. In 2017, a total of 18 human cases of ferret badger bite were reported, including 13 cases that were tested positive for rabies, according to the agency.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/25
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) The last two bodies of people killed in the magnitude 6.0 earthquake in Hualien on Feb. 6 were finally recovered Sunday from the rubble of a collapsed building that is being razed to the ground.

They were 76-year-old Ding Wenchang (丁文昌) and 75-year-old He Fenghua (何鳯華), grandparents of a Chinese family of five who were all killed in a hostel that occupied the lower floors of the 12-story Yun Men Tsui Ti building.

The two bodies, which rescuers said were lying on a bed, were later sent to a local mortuary.

The bodies of parents Yang Jie (楊捷) and Ding Shouhui (丁守慧), aged 39 and 40, and their 12-year old son Yang Haoran (楊浩然) were recovered on Feb. 10.
[FULL  STORY]