Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/05
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Sunday praised Taiwan

independence movement pioneer Su Beng (史明) for his persistence as she took part in a carnival-like celebration outside the Presidential Office for the activist’s 100th birthday.

“Thank you for serving as an example to prove to all Taiwanese what kind of dignity we can achieve if we insist on fighting for our ideals,” Tsai noted as she gave a birthday card to Su at the celebration attended by hundreds of people.

She also hugged the activist, a long-time supporter of Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Su Beng thanked President Tsai for her kind words and noted that for the first time in 400 years, a woman was serving as president of Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 06, 2017
By: Chen Yu-fu  /  Staff reporter

Lawmakers have questioned what they said was unreasonably low rents paid by the

China Youth Corps for state-owned land and youth activity centers, calling for the properties’ retrieval once their leases expire.

The corps has been renting 12 youth activity centers nationwide and the Kuan Yun Youth Hostel in Hualien from government agencies and state-run institutions, an investigation by the Executive Yuan’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee has found.

The landlords range from the Ministry of Finance’s National Property Administration (NPA), the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Water Resources Agency and the Council of Agriculture’s Forestry Bureau, to the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, state-run Taiwan Water Corp and National Taiwan University.

Most noteworthy is a 6,683m2 plot of land in Hualien County’s Sioulin Township (秀林) leased to the corps by the NPA for NT$163,656 (US$5,424) per year, or NT$6.7 per ping (3.3m2) per month. The land houses the Tienhsiang Youth Activity Center, which is essentially a hostel.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 5, 20174
By: Matt Yu, Miao Zong-han and Ko Lin

TAIPEI (CNA) – Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said Saturday that a plan for the city

to set up a liaison office in China to serve Taipei residents there is still being assessed.

“If the plan works out, the most likely location would be in Shenzhen where a lot of our Taipei expatriates are living,” Ko said during a healthy walking event in the city.

The mayor said that while the city is weighing the idea of a liaison office, the final decision on such a project would primarily be up to the central government, which is responsible for cross-Taiwan Strait affairs.

The other objective of a Taipei office in China would be to promote business ties between the two cities, he said.

New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) expressed on Friday his desire to open a New Taipei liaison office in China, and Ko told councilors during a hearing the same day that Taipei is also working on a plan to open an office in China, with Shenzhen the most likely location.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) issued a statement Saturday that echoed the main points of its response to Chu’s appeal the day before.

It said that any decision on a liaison office is not up to the local government but rather falls under the jurisdiction of the MAC, which is responsible in Taiwan for cross-Taiwan Strait affairs.    [FULL  STORY]

A grand day out as a Mini owners from around Taiwan descend on Taitung for the day to celebrate their affection for the classic British motor car.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/11/04
By: Louise Watt

Almost 60 years since the first Mini was created on the other side of the world in the

UK, love for the diminutive car is still running strong in Taiwan. Hundreds of passionate Mini owners drove their Austins, Coopers and other versions of the classic British auto to a MiniDay event in Taitung over the Oct. 28-29 weekend.

Originally designed at a time when large cars were going out of fashion due to a petrol shortage resulting from the 1950s Suez Crisis, the Mini has remained a cultural icon all over the world, not least as a result of its prominence in the hit movie “The Italian Job.”

In Taiwan, fans point to its novel design, historical value and durability, as well as its suitability for customization — from flags on the roof to special steering wheels and other components. Graphic designer Huang Jingqi (黃靜琦), who has a 1990 Mini, says that while people buy other cars to fit in with a brand, the Mini allows its owners to live the life they want to.    [FULL  STORY]

Hate speech against Muslims appeared on PTT Bulletin Board System: IAT

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Islamic Association of Taiwan (IAT, 台灣伊斯蘭協會) has

asked the authorities and National Taiwan University (NTU) to take measures against demeaning recent online comments targeting Islam, reports said Saturday.

In September and October, derogatory and hateful language about Islam and Muslims in general started to appear on the PTT Bulletin Board System, the association said, according to reports by the Central News Agency.

A total of seven forums had been opened on the subject, and they provided a platform for extremist messages of hate, according to the IAT.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/04
By: Elaine Hou and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is asking a U.K. job search

website to make a correction after listing National Chengchi University as located in “Taipei- Taiwan, Province of China,” a ministry spokesman said Saturday.

MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said the MOFA has contacted its representative office in the U.K. to get in contact with the people who run the job search site job.ac.uk and have “Province of China” removed from the description of National Chengchi University’s location.

A posting on the website for an assistant/associate professor position at the Taiwanese university currently notes that the university is located in “Taipei-Taiwan, Province of China.”

Lee said the MOFA takes the improper designation of Taiwan very seriously, and will always contact relevant agencies to make corrections as soon as it is notified of any transgression.     [SOURCE]

EXCHANGES:Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said he would defer to the central government’s decision if it disapproves of his plan to open a representative office in Shenzhen, China

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 05, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Establishing municipal representative offices in China would represent an extension of

the government’s jurisdiction, which is an issue larger than autonomous rights granted local governments by the central government, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, calling on New Taipei City and Taipei to work with the central government on the matter.

The council said in a statement that it would study the cities’ proposals to establish representative offices in China and explain to them its stance on the issue.

It added that it would communicate with the city governments and provide them with the necessary assistance, whether it be to boost bilateral commerce or solve problems encountered by Taiwanese travelers in China.

New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Thursday at a meeting of the New Taipei City Council told Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) New Taipei City Councilor Chen Ming-yi (陳明義) that he would formulate plans based on Chen’s advice to create a liaison office, service center or representative office in China to provide assistance to Taiwanese working or studying there.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 4, 2017
By: Ku Chuan, Elaine Hou and Kuan-lin Liu

TAIPEI (CNA) – Taiwan’s government plans to spend NT$1.5 billion (US$49.7 million)

next year to subsidize interest payments to support a plan for local banks to loan up to US$3.5 billion to allied and New Southbound Policy countries for development projects.

Minister without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), the head of the Cabinet’s Office of Trade Negotiations, told CNA on Saturday that the government will be spending a total of NT$3 billion on the program, with half of that sum already listed in next year’s budget.

The much larger sum of US$3.5 billion that the government originally described as a “financing facility” to be managed under what Taiwan is calling its version of an “Official Development Assistance” program will actually come from Taiwan’s commercial banks.

The goal of Taiwan’s program is to help Taiwanese businesses win contracts to build public infrastructure in targeted countries, Deng said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan claims it aspires to be a fintech hub, but it has failed to even pass so-called ‘sandbox’ legislation that would enable the ecosystem to experiment and grow. Over-regulation, a lack of consolidation in the banking sector and the absence of a defined government strategy to grow the sector are all holding Taiwan back.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/11/03
By: Marina Finley

Technological advances are increasingly transforming every aspect of financial

services, a phenomenon that has given rise to the term “fintech,” short for financial technology.

In Taiwan, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in 2015 established a Fintech Office to plan and promote fintech development. Since taking office in May 2016, the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration has announced additional programs and committed significant resources aimed at making Taiwan a fintech hub.

Nonetheless, fintech is struggling to gain a strong foothold in Taiwan, as stringent regulatory controls and oversight, as well as lack of smooth coordination among government departments, often smother rather than foster innovation. “To innovate, you have to change things. If your laws are only set to protect the status quo, then how can you innovate?” asks Carl Wegner, Director of Asia for technology company R3. “The government must have the discipline and vision to overhaul the old regulatory framework and supplant it with a progressive, innovative system. Taiwan’s future hinges on it.”    [FULL  STORY]

New fine system to be introduced on January 1

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/03
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Beginning next January 1, Taipei City will level fees of NT$100

(US$3.31) for towing away illegally parked bicycles and of NT$25 (US$0.82) per 12 hours for keeping them.

Over the past few years, Taiwan has seen an explosion in the number of cycling enthusiasts and of widespread rental schemes such as YouBike and oBike.

Since bicycles in Taiwan do not have license plates, the towing service will leave a note written in chalk on the ground and ask the owner to collect the bicycle at one of three locations, the Longmen or Wanhua high schools or the Songshan District’s Zhiyuan parking area, the Chinese-language Liberty Times reported Friday.

Even though the number of parking spots for bicycles, especially near Mass Rapid Transit stations, had been expanded significantly, so had the number of illegally parked bikes, reports said. Near the campus of National Taiwan University alone, an estimated 1,173 bicycles had been towed away between January and October this year, according to the Liberty Times.    [FULL  STORY]