Taipei Times
Date: Nov 20, 2017
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Several civic groups and pro-independence organizations yesterday gathered outside a

police station in Taoyuan to mark the 40th anniversary of the Jhongli Incident (中壢事件), which is considered a watershed event in Taiwan’s democracy movement.

The groups gathered in front of the Jhongli Police Station in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), waving Taiwanese “national flags” and shouting slogans such as “Unite for Taiwan,” “All hail Taiwanese independence” and “Fight for democracy, justice and human rights.”

Event organizers included Free Taiwan Party Chairman Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) and Taiwan Independence Reformation Association director Lai Fang-cheng (賴芳徵).

“We must not forget what happened at this police station. It was a painful period in history, when Taiwanese were under the brutal dictatorship of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] regime with its reign of terror and police-state tactics,” Tsay said.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 19, 2017
By: Esme Jiang and Frances Huang

TAIPEI (CNA) – Taiwan-based integrated circuit designer MediaTek Inc. (聯發科)

announced plans to hand out about NT$160 million (US$5.31 million) in bonuses to employees during the company’s sports day on Saturday.

At the event, which is also the firm’s annual family day and celebrates the 20th anniversary of the company being established, MediaTek Chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) said every employee formally hired before Sept. 30 will receive a bonus of NT$10,000.

According to MediaTek, about 16,000 employees are eligible for the sports day bonus. As with some other high-tech firms in Taiwan, MediaTek traditionally announces a cash gift to employees on its annual sports day to supplement year-end and quarterly bonuses and show gratitude to employees for all their hard work.

Tsai said he was delighted to see employees attend the sports day and also happy to see so many family members in attendance.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-18

Premier William Lai has gone to Pingtung County in Taiwan’s far south to discuss the

government’s infrastructure and long-term care plans with local officials.

Lai’s visit Saturday marks the beginning of a series of trips he plans to take through rural areas of Taiwan over the next six months. The trips aim to bridge a communication gap between the central government and local authorities. In addition to giving local officials a better understanding of the central government’s policies, these trips are also meant to give government ministries an understanding of local officials’ views.

Lai spoke during Saturday’s visit about Cabinet funding for Pingtung County during 2017 and 2018, which he said will go towards infrastructure and improvements to the care provided by the Pingtung County branch of Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital. At the same time, he praised Pingtung County’s approval of funding for the renovation of local classrooms and historic sites.    [SOURCE]

Sun Yafu, vice president of the Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, dismisses speculations of a reunification timetable

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/18
By Eric Kao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Sun Yafu (孫亞夫), vice president of the Association of

Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, dismissed speculations of a reunification timetable, in Hong Kong on Friday.

When asked about whether the Chinese government has set forth a specific timetable for achieving reunification with Taiwan by the year 2049, Sun refuted by stating that people who believe so have simply misinterpreted the official reports of the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

Questions on whether the Chinese government has set forth a specific timetable for achieving reunification with Taiwan by the year 2049 have been raised following “Two Centenaries,” a set of goals put forth by Chinese President Xi Jinping after the previous National Assembly of the Communist Party in 2012.

According to the “Two Centenaries,” the Chinese Communist Party will strive to realize the great dream of rejuvenating the Chinese nation by the end of the second 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party, which will be in the year 2049. Observers from around the globe have interpreted this as a hint by the Communist Party of its intentions to achieve reunification with Taiwan by 2049.

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/18
By: Liu Lee-jung and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Nov. 18 (CNA) The Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force has announced a formal

request for tenders (RTF) for companies to conduct a marine salvage mission to retrieve the black box of a Mirage-2000 fighter jet that went missing on Nov. 7.

According to an unnamed Air Force official, the RTF, which was made public earlier this week, has attracted bids from more than five companies, all of which are able to locate and retrieve the black box from a depth of 100 meters.

The Air Force is scheduled to review the bids on Monday, Nov. 20. If all goes well, the contract will then be awarded and the chosen company will proceed with salvage work, weather conditions permitting, the unnamed source said.    [FULL  STORY]

WEAK FOUNDATION:A Ching Fu subsidiary might see its contract with a marine museum dissolved if it continues to miss deadlines in building an ecology aquarium

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 19, 2017
By: Su Yung-yao and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Officials involved in an indigenous submarine project largely agree that the government

should dissolve its contract with Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船) to cut its losses and move ahead with building submarines, sources familiar with the project said.

Ching Fu, which was contracted to build six minesweepers, was last month revealed to have engaged in fraudulent activity involving nine banks that had agreed to grant the shipbuilder a NT$20.5 billion (US$681 million) syndicated loan led by state-run First Commercial Bank (第一銀行).

Ching Fu defaulted on the loan, causing the banks to lose up to NT$20.1 billion.

The firm must pay the consortium NT$1.7 billion in surety bonds by the end of this month as a guarantee of repayment, an official said on condition of anonymity.  [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 18, 2017
By: Fan Cheng-yang and Ko Li

TAIPEI (CNA) – Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) told a visiting cardinal from the

Vatican on Friday that Taiwan’s government will continue to promote the values of peace and solidarity across all religions.

In a meeting with Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday, the vice president said that based on the universal values of peace, freedom, equality and altruism, Taiwan will remain an indispensable partner of the Holy See in promoting peace and freedom of religion around the world.

As such, Chen also called on people across all religions to collaborate in promoting a culture of compassion, tolerance, non-violence and empathy.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s ship of state lacks the power to get to the UN climate summit.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/11/17
By: Stellina Chen

While EPA Minister Lee Ying-yuan rowed into the waves of international negotiations, meeting with ministers outside the conference, he was ultimately left in the water when it came to entering the conference and affecting change within the system.
[FULL  STORY]

With a rare combination of Fiber and Form, the founders of Fyber Forma try to create fashion that is simple, light and clean 

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/17
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Founded in 2014 by Lu Kuan-Ru and Wen Hai-hao in Taipei, the

brand Fyber Forma and its unique products brought a lot of attention to their booth this week at Taipei IN Style.

The brand name is a combination of ‘Fiber’ and ‘Form’ as the founders believe fiber can exist in any form.

Tyvek is the symbolic material of the brand which specializes in unisex personal wear and accessories with major products such as coats, jackets and a variety of bags.

The brand excels in assembling and transforming forms to create a fashion with a light outdoor, simple, and clean style. The designs focus on demonstrating the beauty and uniqueness of Tyvek while displaying a self-confident and sensible personality.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/17
By: Justine Su, Liu Kuan-ting, Yu Hsiao-han and Elizabeth Hsu 

Taipei, Nov. 17 (CNA) A controversial bill aimed at making existing labor laws more “flexible” was sent to legislative committees on Friday amid jostling and scuffling between ruling and opposition lawmakers.

The bill proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party government, designed to deal with the widespread complaints over the revisions to the Labor Standards Act the same DPP government passed in December 2016, was sent to committee after a vote held by Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全).

Taking advantage of their big majority in the Legislature, DPP lawmakers decided to have the bill submitted to the social welfare, environmental hygiene and economic affairs committees for a joint review.

DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the committees are expected to begin the review on Nov. 20 at the earliest.    [FULL  STORY]