A slurry of protests, policies and payments eliminated Taiwan’s waste problems.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/01/24
By: Nate Maynard

Walking around Taipei, one seldom sees trash or even trash cans. Instead you might

see people washing plastic bottles, carefully sorting computer parts and families waiting with blue trash bags for the nightly garbage trucks.

This trash transformation is a recent phenomenon. In 1993, Taiwan had a collection rate for trash of just 70 percent. That meant 30 percent of Taiwan’s waste entered the environment either through littering or burning.

Fed up with rampant illegal dumping, people demanded change, with the then Kaohsiung mayor (and now KMT chairman) Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) facing the brunt of the public’s ire. In just 20 years Taiwan transitioned from an island on the brink of a waste apocalypse to a global leader in recycling.

Today, much of Southeast Asia and the rest of the economically rising world grapples with similar trash challenges. Indonesia just invested US$1 billion into stemming the flow of plastic pollution into the ocean after being named one of the worst contributors to ocean plastic. The rest of the world fails to stem the tide – they halfheartedly use plastic bag bans, educational programs, and a mix of other programs without addressing the underlying causes. Yet, looking at Taiwan, it’s obvious what drove not only a dramatic increase in recycling but a massive decline in waste production.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Navy beginning research into feasibility of fleet of ‘stealth mini-missile boats’ that could counter China’s growing naval threat

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/24
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —  In a new effort to use asymmetric warfare to counter an

invasion by China, Taiwan is going ahead with research into the feasibility of building a large fleet of small warships armed to the teeth with missiles, reported CNA.

On Jan. 08, Chief of the General Staff Lee Hsi-ming (李喜明) confirmed that the Navy will begin research into the construction of 60 “Stealth Mini-Missile Assault Boats” weighing 45 tons each, with the goal of having the fleet completed within four years.

Navy officials said that the development of the vessels would be carried out by the National Chung-shan Institute of Science and Technology in coordination with domestic shipyards. If approved by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the Navy will commission private contractors to build the warships over the course of four years, and would represent the first major defense contract signed since she took office in 2016.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/24
By: Hsiao Po-wen and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Jan. 24 (CNA) The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a not guilty verdict in

a case against a former Army commander, who was accused of ordering physical punishment that led to the death of a corporal.

The ruling brought to an end the 5-year-long case, which stemmed from the death of 24-year-old Corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) in a military confinement facility in July 2013.

Major General Shen Wei-chih (沈威志), commander of the 542 Brigade in which Hung was serving, was one of the officers accused of causing the death of Hung, who had been punished for taking a cellphone onto the Army base in violation of regulations.

On July 3, 2013, Hung collapsed from heatstroke, after being forced to perform a series of strenuous drills, and he died a day later in hospital.
[FULL  STORY]

INEXPENSIVE: Stickers affixed to misprinted pages are made of the same material as visa stickers and cost about NT$200 million less than a reprint of all 550,000 passports

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 25, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it has inspected and accepted 100,000 of

550,000 revised copies of the next-generation biometric passport, which is expected to be put back into circulation early next month at the latest.

The Bureau of Consular Affairs accepted the 100,000 copies on Tuesday and is scheduled to inspect a second batch of 120,000 on Tuesday next week, Passport Administration Division Director Ben Wang (王北平) told a morning news conference in Taipei.

“With 220,000 copies of the next-generation passport in hand, the bureau will decide when to relaunch after factoring in the stock of the first-generation passport to ensure a seamless transition,” Wang said, adding that the relaunch could be scheduled for the end of this month or early next month.

The ministry recalled the next-generation passport only days after its introduction on Dec. 25 last year after it was found that an inner page illustration mistakenly depicted Washington Dulles International Airport instead of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport due to a designer’s mistake.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan English News
Date: January 23, 2018
By: Phillip Charlier

Stray Bullets hit a convenience store window in Zhonghe District, New Taipei City, yesterday, after a police officer fired four shots at a suspect who pulled a gun on the officers. Fortunately, nobody was injured during the incident.

Police officers investigating suspected drug dealers followed two suspects from a residence in Ximending to a location in Zhonghe District. At around 11:00 pm, a 32 year-old suspect named Chen got out of a car as police approached to question the men. Chen pulled a folding knife out of his pocket and attempted to escape.

As police suppressed the suspect, the other man, 41 year-old Mr Jiang, pulled a gun on the officers at a range of less than 5 meters. Jiang took aim at the back of one of the officers suppressing Chen and pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed.   [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-23

Premier William Lai says that media reports on Monday about a planned adjustment to

the national minimum wage are mistaken.

The reports said that Vice Premier Shih Jun-ji recently held a meeting with aides where it was decided to raise the monthly minimum wage by nearly 5%. On Tuesday, however, Lai said no such meeting had taken place.

Lai’s statement comes as a number of officials, including the president, have spoken to the media about the issue of Taiwan’s stagnant wages. In a radio interview last week, Vice Premier Shih said Taiwan could bring the monthly minimum wage up to NT$30,000 (US$1,000) in the next few years.

Asked whether he agreed with his deputy’s assessment, Lai said Tuesday that he will have greater confidence if domestic investment increases.    [SOURCE]

The album was officially released on Tuesday (January 23) at the NPA assembly hall

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/23
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–The album “You are the True Hero”to pay tribute to Taiwan’s

police was officially released on Tuesday (January 23) at the National Police Agency (NPC) assembly hall.

In order to show the tender side of the police to the public and to enhance their connection, Taiwan’s National Police Agency (NPC) contracted with the Police Broadcasting Service (PBS) for holding a lyric competition. The PBS invited six famous and public-spirited musicians in Taiwan, such as Kung Kiang, Yao Hung and Ric Jan, to compose 10 melodies, which were then matched with the 10 winning pieces of lyric from the composition to create 10 beautiful songs for the album, “You are the True Hero.”

NPC Director Chen, Ja-Chin claimed that he thanked all the composers who wrote about their warm interactions with the police for bringing the the pubic and the police closer together through music. Chen pointed out that these 10 beautiful songs were indeed a boost to the morale of all the police in the country. He hoped that the 10 songs could be spread widely among people and sung by everyone in Taiwan.
[FULL  STORY

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/23
By Chang Ming-hsuan and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Jan. 23 (CNA) Unions in the healthcare industry staged a protest outside the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) on Tuesday, calling for a reinstatement of the mandated 11 hours of rest between work shifts, a rule that was removed in the recent amendments to Taiwan’s labor laws.

Under the newly amended Labor Standards Act, employees can be asked to work with only an eight-hour break between shifts, a change that the healthcare unions said would lead to overwork and increase the risk of errors on the job.

In response, the health ministry invited representatives of the healthcare industry — workers and employers — to discuss how best to apply the regulation on the minimum rest period between work shifts on Tuesday.    [FULL  STORY]

TERROR OR BUDGET? The KMT was accused of terror when it made similar comments, but Tsai might be trying to boost the defense budget, a lawmaker said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 24, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should devise plans to reduce the possibility of the Chinese government launching an armed assault on Taiwan, lawmakers said yesterday.

“No one should ever rule out the possibility” of a Chinese attack, Tsai said during an interview on Monday, when asked by political talk show host Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) whether China could launch an armed assault on Taiwan.

However, as all decisionmaking by national leaders come at a cost, how the scenario would play out would depend on whether the Chinese president can make rational decisions, Tsai said.

Considering the international situation and regional stability, there is a “high likelihood” that China would launch an attack on Taiwan, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) said yesterday.    [FULL  STORY]

Is the the long-time threat of APTs to Taiwan a blessing in disguise?

The Diplomat
Date: January 23, 2018
By: Philip Hsu

Declaring that “cybersecurity is national security,” President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan inaugurated the Information Communication Electronic Force Command (ICEF) on June 29, 2017, formally establishing Taiwan’s “cyber fourth service.” The cyber fourth service, the first such independent military cyber command in the world, is the latest in a series of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) initiatives to improve Taiwan’s cybersecurity environment.

In August 2016, Taiwan’s Executive Yuan established the Department of Cybersecurity and subsequently released a new version of Taiwan’s Draft Cybersecurity Management Law. In addition, the government is pressing for the development of Taiwan’s cybersecurity industry as a driver of employment, economic growth and national security through a policy of “cyber autonomy.”    [FULL  STORY]