BEACHHEAD: A coalition has launched 67 action plans to cut marine pollution, while local agencies would be asked to monitor beaches to investigate sources of garbage

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 14, 2018
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday introduced a series of

plans to reduce the use of plastic products that cause marine pollution, with the use of plastic straws expected to be limited next year and disposable tableware banned by 2030.

The plans were jointly drafted by the agency and eight environmental groups, which formed a coalition on marine waste disposal in July last year.

“Marine pollution has become another serious environmental problem for the world, in addition to global warming,” said Tse-xin Organic Agriculture Foundation member Chen Li-hsin (陳立信), who discussed their collaboration over the past six months at a news conference in Taipei.

The coalition has launched 67 action plans that focus on four areas: source reduction; prevention and removal of marine waste; research and investigation; and expanding public participation, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-12

The wife of Lee Ming-che, a Taiwanese NGO worker jailed in China, is back in Taiwan

after attending a human rights symposium in Europe. She spoke about his case on Sunday upon returning to Taiwan.

The wife of jailed NGO worker Lee Ming-che says that rescuing her husband from imprisonment in China will take time. The woman – Lee Ching-yu – was speaking at the airport after returning to Taiwan from Europe. She was in Brussels on Wednesday to give a speech at a human rights symposium.
[FULL  STORY]

The country-that-cannot-be-named has never won a medal at a Winter Olympics.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/02/12
By: Morley J Weston

Taiwanese athlete Lien Te-an (連德安) placed 39th out of 40 in the Men’s single luge

competition last weekend – but what can you expect from a competitor who reportedly trains on Taiwan’s mountain highways?

Taiwan — err, Chinese Taipei — is still in the games, with three speed skaters competing in five events.

The remaining events featuring Taiwanese competitors can be watched online here, here or a recap here (the YouTube recap begins after the competition ends). For those who want to give Taiwan’s athletes a cheer, check out the timetable below and tune in accordingly:

Huang Yu-ting (黃郁婷) will compete in three speed skating events:    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei City-based National Taiwan University leads the way among local tertiary institutions in 26th

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/02/12
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A total of eight Taiwan universities are among the top 100 in Asia, according to Times Higher Education’s (THE) annual rankings of the region.

The 2018 Asia University Rankings reveal the 350+ best colleges and universities in Asia, featuring institutions from 25 countries.

Taipei City-based National Taiwan University leads the way among local tertiary institutions at 26th place, followed by National Tsing Hua University in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City at No. 36 and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology at No. 42.

“Most of Taiwan’s institutions have fallen in rankings as the country grapples with an aging population and oversupply of higher education,” says THE’s acting rankings editor Ellie Bothwell.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/12
By: Joseph Yeh 

Taipei, Feb. 12 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Monday expressed regret after the Papua New Guinea government ordered Taiwan’s representative office in the country to remove the title “Republic of China” from its name under Chinese pressure.

“China’s continuous oppression of Taiwan in the international arena when Taiwan is still embroiled in the aftermath of the Hualien earthquake will only hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people and give them a negative impression of Beijing,” said MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章).

The news was made public by China’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday when spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) applauded the move, saying it showed the Oceanian country’s “staunch support” for the “one-China” principle that sees Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China.    [FULL  STORY]

KAOHSIUNG PROSECUTION: A 30-year sentence is being sought for chairman Chen Ching-nan, while his wife and son could face 25 and 20 years respectively

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2018
By: Jonathan Chin  /  Staff writer, with CNA

The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday charged four Ching Fu

Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船) executives and one consultant, including chairman Chen Ching-nan (陳慶男), with fraud, breach of trust and banking laws violations.

The prosecutors recommended a sentence of 30 years imprisonment, commutable to a NT$1 billion (US$34 million) fine, for Chen.

Unnamed parties in August last year formally accused Ching Fu of forging proof-of-material procurement documents to give the impression that the company was meeting the project milestones of its minesweeper contract with the Republic of China Navy.

Those complaints triggered an investigation by Kaohsiung prosecutors that led to the indictments.    [FULL  STORY]

The Star
February 11, 2018 
By: Nicole McDonald

The significance of the visit of Taiwan’s Foreign Minister to Saint Lucia must not escape

us. The Minister’s pledge to develop deeper ties with Saint Lucia are already bearing results with the signing of a cooperation agreement between our local law enforcement and Taiwan’s. Since the Government took office it has been in discussions with Taiwan to broaden our relationship. On top of holding discussions locally Prime Minister Honourable Allen Chastanet and his wife, along with a contingent, visited Taiwan in November 2017 to hold discussions on the new relationship the government is seeking to build. But what is this new relationship and what does it entail?

Since Saint Lucia re-established relations with Taiwan in 2007 the level of bilateral cooperation spanned a cross-section of areas including agriculture, health, human resource development, community development and empowerment, sports, infrastructure and ICT. Now, we have added police cooperation which Security Minister Honourable Hermangild Francis, stated will “see us explore various areas of mutual benefit and assist us in effectively preventing and combating cross-border serious crimes and terrorism.”    [FULL  STORY]

The Japan Times 
Date: Feb 11, 2018
By: Kyodo Jiji

SENDAI – Areas hit hard by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami have

begun a fundraising push for victims of last week’s earthquake in Taiwan — part of a bid to repay the kindness afforded them seven years ago.

Fundraising has already begun in some areas, with towns in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures considering activities. All three received assistance from donors in Taiwan after the mega-quake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, including relief money, food and electricity generators.

The town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture has installed donation boxes at Town Hall and other locations, while activities to collect money are also underway at local schools and shopping centers.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-11

Premier William Lai says that there is no regional favoritism in the allocation of disaster

relief funds.

Lai was speaking Sunday after remarks supposedly made by Hualien County Magistrate Fu Kun-chi about the distribution of relief funds. Fu is rumored to have accused the central government of regional bias. He supposedly alleged that it allocated NT$20 billion in relief after the 2016 Tainan earthquake, but has only set aside NT$300 million to help Hualien recover from this week’s earthquake.    [FULL  STORY]

The drugs, hidden in latex pillows, were shipped from abroad to a courier facility near Taoyuan Int’l Airport 

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/02/11
By:  Central News Agency

TAIPEI (CNA) — A shipment containing more than 97 kilograms of ketamine, a fast-

acting and powerful anesthetic often used as a date rape drug, was discovered on Friday at a courier facility near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, law enforcement said Sunday.

Aviation police and customs officers discovered the drugs when they arrived in a shipment from Bangkok, Thailand using express delivery services, an officer from the Aviation Police Bureau said at a press conference.

Officers found suspicious white powder weighing 97.035 kg hidden in 71 boxes of latex pillows in the shipment that was declared to customs as clothing at the Taiwan Air Cargo Terminal warehouse, which is dedicated to express courier services, according to the officer.   [FULL  STORY]