Taipei Times
Date: Feb 06, 2018
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

A coalition led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) yesterday submitted 2,228 petition

forms to the Central Election Commission calling for a referendum to abolish a set of amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) — the latest in a series of referendum proposals to nullify the controversial changes.

The amendments, which were promulgated by the president on Wednesday last week, allow some industries to raise the maximum number of consecutive working days to 12 and conditionally lower the rest time between shifts.

Critics say the measures undermine workers’ rights.

The petition was proposed on Jan. 12 by a SDP-led coalition that includes a number of labor unions and student groups and officially started following the law’s promulgation.

They collected enough petition forms to pass the 1,879-petition threshold needed to initiate a referendum topic.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-05

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake rocked Taiwan’s east coast at just before 10pm on Thursday

night. While no injuries or major damage have been reported, there were 5 pre-shocks and 18 aftershocks, all in one day, rattling the nerves of people across Taiwan. At least three of those quakes measured over a 5 on the Richter scale.

In an interview late on Thursday night, CWB seismologist Chen Kuo-chang said the situation was “unprecedented”. Although he was also quick to say that the release of energy is normal.

“The sheer number of the quakes [on Thursday] is rare. The fact that many registered a magnitude of over a 5, is something that has never happened since we began [recording seismic activity] with our seismograph in 1972. The high number of quakes in such a short period of time never occurred prior to our using the equipment either,” said Chen.    [FULL  STORY]

In the first of a 5 part series, Justin Hugo looks at how statistics suggesting the Asian Tiger economies have caught up with their Scandinavian counterparts mask a more sobering wage-based reality.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/02/05
By: Justin Hugo

Wage wars
The Asian Tigers and Japan have enjoyed a remarkable growth streak over the last half a decade that has put them firmly in the league of high-income countries – at least as measured by GDP per capita – a phenomenon bested by only some oil-rich Gulf states.

But in terms of the actual livelihoods of their citizens, have they caught up?

Nordic countries are upheld as the gold standard of what a model country should look like, often featuring in lists of the world’s best places to live with the happiest people in the world. How would the Asian Tigers – known on the contrary for their high stress levels and rates of suicide – compare with the Nordics, and with the Netherlands, which Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said is “an excellent model [… and] the best country for Taipei to learn from,” having realized that Taiwan’s thriving democracy discounts emulating the region’s leading economic light, Singapore.

“[Former] President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) had led Taiwan along a “democratic path,” that meant [that Taiwan] could never be like Singapore,” Ko reportedly said. Taiwan and the Netherlands also have significant historical links dating back to when Taiwan was a Dutch colony (1624-1662), the Taipei mayor added.    [FULL  STORY]

The decision of the Seoul High Court reduced a lower court’s ruling and rejected most bribery charges against Lee

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/02/05
By:  Associated Press

SEOUL (AP) — A South Korean appeals court Monday handed down a 2 ½-year

suspended jail sentence for corruption to Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong, clearing the way for him to be freed after nearly a year in prison and return to the company’s leadership.

In a surprise decision, the Seoul High Court significantly reduced the lower court’s ruling and rejected most bribery charges pressed against Lee by prosecutors who sought a 12-year prison term.

The appeals court said Lee was unable to reject the then-president’s request to financially support her confidante Choi Soon-sil and was coerced to make the payment. The court found Lee still guilty of giving 3.6 billion won ($3.3 million) in bribery for the equestrian training of Choi’s daughter.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/05
By: Wang Cheng-chung and Flor Wang

Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) Nearly 1,000 Taiwanese students in China do not have plane tickets

to return home for the Lunar New Year holiday in the wake of a cross-Taiwan Strait dispute over a controversial aviation route, a Taiwanese student association leader said Monday.

Chiu Rong-li (邱榮利), head of the China-based Taiwan Students Solidarity Headquarters, cited an internal survey as showing that about 1,000 Taiwanese students have not been able to book plane tickets home for the Feb. 15-20 holiday after their flights were canceled by China-based China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Air.

The two airlines canceled 176 extra Lunar New Year flights after Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) delayed approval of their applications to operate the flights to protest China’s launch of four new air routes in early January.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-04

More than 20,000 people in need gathered together on Sunday in central Taipei to partake

in special feast. The goal was to share the warmth of the upcoming Chinese New Year season with the homeless, elderly who live alone, single mothers, people with disabilities, and those living under the poverty line.

The annual event is organized by three local charities: Zenan Homeless Social Welfare Foundation (which works with people who are homeless or living in poverty), Genesis Social Welfare Foundation (which works largely with people in a persistent vegetative state), and Huashan Social Welfare Foundation (which works largely with the elderly).

In addition to the Taipei banquet, feasts were also held on Sunday at 15 other locations throughout Taiwan, serving a nation-wide total of roughly 40,000 people. The Taipei event, the largest of the banquets, was held for the third year in a row at a prominent place in the city: right in front of the Presidential Office Building. Vice President Chen Chien-jen spoke at the event, saying that what is usually a space for public protests, had become a space for the love and warmth of the season.
[FULL  STORY]

Two people were found dead and three others were hospitalized after a fire engulfed a home in Toucheng Township in Yilan County on Sunday

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/02/04
By:  Central News Agency

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) Two people were found dead and three others were hospitalized after

a fire engulfed a home in Toucheng Township in Yilan County on Sunday, firefighters said.

Firefighters said they rushed to the scene of the fire on Qingyun Road, where neighbors reported hearing cries for help at around 1:00 p.m. as heavy smoke belched from an eatery on the ground floor, which was closed at the time.

Witnesses also said they saw people jumping from the second floor as the fire tore through the building, according to firefighters.

After fire was brought under control at around 2:10 p.m., firefighters said, they were able to enter the building and found a child and one adult dead inside the home.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/04
By: S.C. Chang

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) A magnitude 5.8 earthquake jolted Hualien in eastern Taiwan at 9:56

p.m., just 23 minutes after a second temblor hit within less than a hour Sunday.

The Central Weather Bureau said the latest jolt was centered at 27.8 km northeast of the Hualien County government site at a depth of 16 km.

The magnitude 5.8 quake had an intensity of 5 in Hualien and Yilan counties, an intensity of 4 in Nantou, and of 3 in Taichung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taipei and Yunlin. People in Taipei clearly felt the jolt while it hit.

And the 9:56 p.m. earthquake was followed by a magnitude 4.6 quake at 10:10 p.m. and a magnitude 4.3 one at 10:12 p.m., according to the CWB.    [FULL  STORY]

JOINT EFFORT: Taiwan and St Lucia have signed an agreement and would work closely in combating international crimes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 05, 2018
By: Lu Yi-hsuan  /  Staff reporter

Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) yesterday concluded an official visit to the

nation’s three diplomatic allies in the Caribbean, where he signed two bilateral agreements on police cooperation and diabetes prevention, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Responding to invitations from Saint Lucian Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Timothy Harris, Lee led a delegation to the three nations late last month.

The nation’s relations with its Caribbean allies were in a state of flux, Lee said during a legislative session in March last year.

Particularly, the nation’s relations with St Lucia appeared to be unstable after Taiwan last year changed its ambassador there and because the two nations had severed diplomatic ties in 1997, before re-establishing them in 2007.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-03

A cold snap has brought snow to mountainous areas across much of Taiwan.

Mount Hehuan in central Taiwan saw up to 12cm of snowfall in some places Saturday. With many weekend visitors already in the area, large numbers of tourists ventured up the mountain to see the snow.

The Directorate General of Highways sent out snowplows early Saturday to ensure the safety of roads around Mount Hehuan. Due to ice, access to some stretches of road is being limited to cars with snow chains.

Meanwhile, a weather station on Taiwan’s highest peak, Jade Mountain, recorded 0.6cm of snowfall. With previous layers of snow still on the ground, total accumulation on the peak has reached around 9cm.

In northeastern Taiwan, the 2000-meter high Mount Taiping also got a dusting of snow early Saturday. This was the mountain’s third snowfall of the year, and saw an accumulation of 0.5cm.     [SOURCE]