Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-12

Two political parties, together with labor rights and student activists, are proposing a

referendum on controversial revisions to the labor law that cleared the legislature on Wednesday.

On Friday, Social Democratic Party convener Fan Yun called the revisions a backward step and a democratic crisis in Taiwan’s public policymaking.

Fan called on the public to sign a petition to say no to overwork.

“We have already prepared a draft. After discussing it with scholars specializing in labor law and public law, we think it’s generally OK. We will hold a meeting with whoever is interested in joining us in making a decision as soon as possible. The draft asks: Do you agree to abolish the revisions to the labor law to be promulgated by President Tsai Ing-wen in 2018?,” said Fan.    [FULL  STORY]

If passed as expected, the DPP will have to defend the Mining Act to a skeptical public.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/01/12
By: Brian Hioe

Asia Cement’s mine in Taroko Gorge was constructed on indigenous land seized during the Japanese colonial period.

Outrage has broken out regarding a proposed, long controversial draft amendment to

the Mining Act which would allow mining companies to sidestep environmental regulations and or measures taken to provide for indigenous rights.

In particular, this has led to arguments in legislature between Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lin Shu-fen ((林淑芬), known for progressive stances on social issues, fellows Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) and Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), as well as deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花).

What is controversial is that the draft amendment calls for the Bureau of Mines to accept requests to renew mining permits from quarries that already have mining permits without need for another approval process. In this way, it is feared that the Bureau of Mines will come to act as a rubber stamp for existing mines, allowing their mining permits to be renewed over and over.    [FULL  STORY]

Tainan DPP mayoral primary is most expensive in party’s history: Lee Chun-yi

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/12
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – With politicians gearing up for the November 24 local

elections, Tainan City mayoral contender Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) has warned that China might try to influence the outcome by funding certain candidates.

Lee is one of six rivals vying to win the nomination to run for mayor as candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Since Tainan is considered a DPP stronghold, the winner of the primaries is highly likely to become the southern city’s next mayor.

On Friday, Lee announced he was spending NT$12.75 million (US$430,000) on his campaign, and invited his opponents to come clean about their financial situation, the Liberty Times reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018/01/12
By: Yeh Su-ping and William Yen

Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has said in a letter to Pope

Francis that the people of Taiwan are empathetic to migrants and refugees because of Taiwan’s history and its continuing status as an immigrant society.

The letter, which was released by the Presidential Office on Friday, was in recognition of the pope’s support of migrants and refugees in his message for the 2018 World Day of Peace titled “Migrants and Refugees: Men and Women in Search of Peace.”

The pope’s message, which was first released on Nov. 24, 2017 and delivered on Jan. 1, 2018, urged countries to view global migration “with confidence as an opportunity to build peace” instead of seeing it as a threat.    [FULL  STORY]

‘MINIMUM STANDARDS’: The Ministry of Economic Affairs is to provide a general framework on how to reach a goal of 27GW generated by alternative energy sources

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 13, 2018
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

Environmentalists have mostly praised the Executive Yuan’s proposal to push

consumers of large amounts of electricity to install renewable energy generators, but said that it should provide more detailed plans on achieving its goal of generating 27 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from alternative energy sources by 2025.

The Cabinet on Thursday approved a draft amendment to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條例) proposed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, saying that it would send the bill for legislative review.

The government’s goal of generating 20 percent of the nation’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025 has been turned into a specific figure — 27GW — in the draft, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said on Thursday.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-11

The heads of the government’s five branches discussed future plans for judicial reform

on Thursday.

Tsai, along with Vice President Chen Chien-Jen, chaired the meeting with the heads of the five branches. They are the Cabinet, the Legislature, the Judicial Yuan, the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan.

The officials discussed key issues regarding recent judicial reforms. They include the training and certification of judges, lawyers, and staffers in the government’s legal departments. They also included laws regarding the adoption and protection of teenagers, as well as changes to the criminal code.

Tsai said at the meeting that officials from the five branches must work closely together to ensure the smooth operation of the administration.    [FULL  STORY]

Studying at university in Taiwan is relatively easy to arrange, inexpensive and has a range of extracurricular upsides.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/01/11
By: Adam Hatch

If you’ve ever considered studying abroad in Taiwan, this guide will show you how.

However, the question stands — why should you go to college in Taiwan? What makes this a better decision than, say, studying in the U.S., or Europe, or your home country?

First, Taiwan features a number of world-class research institutions, and education is a top social priority. Close to 70 percent of Taiwanese people go to college, and schools like National Taiwan University (NTU), Tsing Hua University, and China Medical University offer some of the best programs in Asia.

Next, going to school in Taiwan is affordable. The government offers scholarships to international students that make studying here essentially free of charge, meaning (at least for American students) instead of graduating with years of debt, you have a strong degree that is completely paid for. And even if you don’t go the scholarship route, tuition and cost of living are much more reasonable than many other locations around the world.

Photo Credit：國立臺灣師範大學NTNU offers a strong teaching program.
Taiwan also features a number of unique and useful programs, especially if you want to focus on language acquisition. Learning Mandarin is more important than ever, and Taiwan offers rigorous and fulfilling Chinese curricula without the headache of living across the Strait. Beyond Chinese, you can find degree programs — taught both in Mandarin and English — in just about any field.

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/01/11
By:  Central News Agency

Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) A taxi driver, who was convicted by a district court of drugging

three women from South Korea and sexually assaulting one of them, on Thursday received a sentence of seven years and 4 months in his appeal of the case in the Taiwan High Court.

In its ruling, the high court overturned the Shilin District Court’s conviction of Chan Yu-ju on the charge of drugging the three women but upheld the guilty verdict on the sexual assault charge.

It means that his total prison time has been reduced from a combined 11 years handed down by the district court for the drugging and sexual assault charges.

However, the high court increased the sentence against the taxi driver for sexual assault from four years and six months to seven years and four months, saying that his actions constituted forced sexual intercourse, rather than just indecent assault as the district court had determined.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/11
By: Chen Wei-ting and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) International cruise liners have been showing increasing interest

in using Keelung Port in northern Taiwan as a base from which to tap into the regional cruise market, which has been growing.

Last year, Princess Cruises, a leading liner, unveiled a plan to make Keelung the home port for three of its cruise ships, and this year Star Cruises also made a similar announcement.

Those two decisions are expected to fuel the cruise ship boom at the port and help drive up Taiwan’s cruise visitor numbers to around 1.24 million this year.

Princess Cruises last year began using Keelung as a home port for its Majestic Princess vessel on its turn-around cruises, and will do the same with its Sun Princess and Diamond Princess ships this year.    [FULL  STORY]

POLITICAL MISSION: Attendees at a public hearing said Tsai Ing-wen’s nominations were clearly politically biased or were too inexperienced to credibly fulfill the new role

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 12, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Representatives of the public yesterday clashed over President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文)

follow-up nominations of Control Yuan members, with members of the pan-blue camp calling the nominations biased.

The Legislative Yuan held a hearing to solicit views from the public on nominations to fill 11 seats left vacant after 29 members retired in 2014 during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) term.

Yeh Ching-yuan (葉慶元), a lawyer for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), targeted nominee Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), who served as Presidential Office secretary-general under then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Chen Shih-meng allegedly said that, if approved, he would purge certain law enforcers whom he deemed to be “leftovers from the party-state era,” which shows that he has a distinct political stance, Yeh said.    [FULL  STORY]