Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/09
By: Elaine Hou and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) Taiwan’s government wants peaceful development of relations

across the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Saturday in the wake of a comment by a Chinese diplomat that threatened military action by China if U.S. Navy ships are allowed to call at Taiwan ports.

MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) told CNA that the Taiwan government has long been pursuing the stable and peaceful development of cross-strait relations and will not go the route of resistance but neither will it cave under pressure.

The issue arose after the U.S. Congress on Nov. 30 passed the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes clauses that would allow the U.S. to look at the possibility of reestablishing “regular ports of call by the U.S. Navy at Kaohsiung or any other suitable ports in Taiwan” and permits the U.S. Pacific Command to receive ports of call by Taiwan vessels.    [FULL  STORY]

‘NOT JOKING’: Cross-strait ties are none of the US’ business and do not need to rely on the mediation of any other nation, Li Kexin of the Chinese embassy in the US said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 10, 2017
By: Nadia Tsao and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter in WASHINGTON, with staff writer

The day US Navy vessels arrive in Kaohsiung would be the day the Chinese People’s

Liberation Army “unifies” Taiwan by force, said Li Kexin (李克新), minister at the Chinese embassy in the US.

Li made the remarks on Friday at an explanatory session at the Chinese embassy in Washington about the Chinese Communist Party’s 19th National Congress and US President Donald Trump’s visit to China last month.

The Taiwan issue is still a challenge to US-China relations, Li said, adding that the US’ National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by the US Congress — which enables mutual visits between Taiwanese and US naval vessels — violates the basic spirit of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and China.

As of Nov. 16, the NDAA for next fiscal year has been passed by both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, and is awaiting Trump’s signature to become law.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-08

Premier William Lai said Friday he has told the Council of Labor Affairs to conduct a full

review of the Labor Standards Act. This is part of a long-term policy to reform the country’s labor laws.

The move comes at a time when a controversial amendment to the labor law concerning working hours is making its way through the Legislature. Cabinet spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung said the government has different short-term and long-term goals for revising Taiwan’s labor laws.

“Our policies can be divided into long-term, medium-term and short-term. [The latter] is the subject of our recent amendment. There is no change to our commitment to protect the rights of workers. We have four areas which will not change, and four areas where we want to be flexible. This is what we are addressing in the short term. In the longer term we want a comprehensive review and the premier was talking about long-term policy,” said Hsu.     [FULL  STORY]

A generation of Taiwan-born kids with Vietnamese heritage have the potential to deepen and expand bilateral ties.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/08
By: Jay Lin

It has taken me 44 years to get to Vietnam, but at least I am finally here. I wished I had

arrived even sooner to witness its rapid transformation. Taiwan was one of the earliest investors in Vietnam, as early as 1988, and is the country’s fourth-largest foreign investor. The cab driver who whisked me to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport told me that I was his fifth consecutive fare heading to Vietnam. Now that I am here, I understand all the hullabaloo.

Vietnam has about 95 million people, with a median age of slightly over 30 and an economic growth rate that tops 6 percent per year. Youthful energy is abundantly visible in the bustling city of Ho Chi Minh, where I’m staying for three days. My service apartment is situated inside the centrally situated Saigon Centre. I arrived on a Sunday to check in, and witnessed a fervent scene where teenagers, couples, hipsters, and families in their twenties and thirties came out in their best attire and took turns taking pictures all along the window displays and Christmas decorations at the Takeshimaya Department Store.    [FULL  STORY]

After 9 people were killed in New Taipei apartment fire, the city’s government has begun taking down all illegal structures

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/08
By: Alicia Nguyen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – New Taipei city government are starting to down illegal

structures built on rooftops that present a threat to public safety, reported CNA.

Head of Illegal Construction Demolition Corps, Feng Chao-lin (馮兆麟) said that  17 illegal rooftop additions found on Jingxin street in Zhonghe District, New Taipei city, owned by the same landlord, will be demolished.

The demolition of illegal structures started on Friday (Dec.8) and if weather conditions are good, all 17 illegal structures will be destroyed within a week, Feng said. As for some rooms that still have tenants, they will be given a short amount of time to relocate.

Additionally, he said not only illegal rooftop additions will be torn down, but any construction found to be a hazard to public safety will also be removed.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/08
By: Lin Chang-shun and Flor Wang 

Taipei, Dec. 8 (CNA) Nine crew members were rescued and one remains missing after a fishing boat capsized off New Taipei’s Juifang District in the early hours of Friday, according to the city’s fire department.

Firemen and coastguard officers rescued the nine crew members — the Taiwanese captain surnamed Yang, one Chinese worker, one from the Philippines, two from Indonesia and four from Vietnam — at about 6:50 a.m. after receiving a report that a Juifang-registered fishing vessel — the Shengfu No. 6 — had run into rocks and capsized off Nanya Fishing Port.

Two of the rescued fishermen were injured and sent to Keelung Chang Gung Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, the National Airborne Service Corps has dispatched a helicopter to search for the missing Vietnamese fisherman.     [FULL  STORY]

CALL TO ACT: Foundation founder Lin I-hsiung might stage another indefinite hunger strike if the legislature fails to pass the proposed revisions before year-end

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 09, 2017
By: Su Fang-ho and Lee Hsin-fang  /  Staff reporters

Dozens of members of the People Rule Foundation yesterday marched from Taipei’s 228

Memorial Park to the Presidential Office Building as part of its campaign to urge the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to swiftly pass a draft amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法).

The act has been compared to a “birdcage,” because it imposes an extremely high threshold for any proposal to pass. A proposal would be rejected if either its voter turnout or affirmative ballots does not exceed half of the number of the nation’s eligible voters.

While the amendment passed its first reading in the legislature last year, it only cleared its second reading yesterday.

Foundation members marched to the Presidential Office Building and stood silently in front of the building to demonstrate their long-term demand for the referendum threshold to be lowered.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-07

President Tsai Ing-wen has thanked the US-based nonprofit policy organization the

National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) for its long-term support in Taiwan-US relations. Tsai was speaking on Thursday while receiving an NCAFP delegation in Taipei.

Tsai said Taiwan plays an active role in regional affairs and hopes that neighboring countries can work together to maintain regional peace and prosperity. She said her government’s New Southbound policy has brought growth in trade, tourism and exchanges with other countries in the region.

Tsai said Taiwan will continue to work with the US and thanked the Trump administration’s support for Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

The temple festival was designated as a cultural asset by the government in 2010

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/07
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – From Thursday to Saturday (December 7-9), one of the three

biggest miaohui (廟會) or temple festivals in Taipei takes place in the city’s Wanhua District where the procession led by the King of Qingshan (青山王) will deter the evil and bring peace and stability to the locals.

The annual miaohui of the Bangka Qingshan Temple (艋舺青山宮) has a history of more than a century. Built in 1859, the temple has knitted a close bond with local pious people ever since.

The three-day miaohui begins with the “night visits” in the first two days, during which the gods are said to inspect the underworld and capture the evil.

The procession sets out at 3 p.m. from the temple and tours around the south or north of Wanhua District each day. Since the procession makes temporary stops at dozens of temples and shrines along the way, the night visits usually end at midnight.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017/12/07

Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that the military will

act appropriately to defend Taiwan’s airspace and borders, after it was reported that several aircraft from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were seen conducting drills near Taiwan.

In a statement, the defense ministry confirmed that Chinese Xian H-6 bombers and other PLA aircraft had flown over the Miyako Strait and the Bashi Channel, which are both close to Taiwan.

The ministry said the military is closely monitoring all related developments and will take appropriate action to defend Taiwan’s airspace and borders.

The statement was issued after Apple Daily reported that Taiwan’s Air Force had scrambled F-16 fighter jets when a PLA aircraft was detected very close to Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) off its southern coast Thursday morning.
[FULL  STORY]