Radio Taiwan International
2017-10-25

President Tsai Ing-wen is set to leave Saturday for a trip to visit Pacific allies, Tuvalu,

the Marshall Islands, and the Solomon Islands. Tsai will meet with the leaders of those countries and will speak at the legislatures of the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands.

Tsai will first meet with Marshall Islands President Hilda C. Heine and witness the signing of memorandums of understanding. The agreements will cover academic scholarships, medical internships, and the prevention of human trafficking.

On November 11, Tsai will visit Tuvalu. She will meet with President Enele Sosene Sopoaga and enjoy a state banquet. She will also visit the country’s Princess Margaret Hospital. The same day, Tsai will travel to the Solomon Islands and meet with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.    [FULL  STORY]

 

Taiwan has huge potential as a cradle of artificial intelligence solutions, but so far its notable successes have come from start-ups like Appier rather than government-backed initiatives. Now, as the government opens the coffers to encourage investment in self-driving cars and AI healthcare, the race is on for Taiwan to develop an AI ecosystem that can compete on a global stage.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/10/26
By: Matthew Fulco

Long before there was Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram, Taiwan had an active social

network of its own: the PTT bulletin board system (BBS). National Taiwan University student Ethan Tu founded PTT in 1995 as an open forum for online discussion, and it quickly became Taiwan’s most popular social network, attracting millions of users.

Today, PTT looks dated, like a relic from the era of dial-up internet connections. But 22 years ago, the concept of a social network for Chinese speakers to discuss everything from politics to the weather was fresh. Why didn’t PTT commercialize?

“We didn’t think software could be a business,” Tu says. “It’s been a problem for Taiwan for years.”

Entrenched hardware makers have held the technology industry captive here as software companies have conquered the world. Firms like Google and China’s Alibaba are now poised to take the lead in the emerging field of artificial intelligence (AI). Taiwan has no software company of that caliber.    [FULL  STORY]

Subsidies for projects involving 276 buildings have been approved since 2014, with total cost amounting to NT$8,003,508, according to the city government.

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/25
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taipei City Government devised the “Subsidy Application

Guidelines for Repairing Outer Wall Surfaces of Buildings in Taipei City” to subsidize citizens embarking on projects to enhance the structural integrity of the outer walls of old buildings.

Subsidies for projects involving 276 buildings have been approved since 2014, with total cost amounting to NT$8,003,508, according to the city government.

The city government has relaxed the guidelines to facilitate the application process, making it possible for private buildings in Taipei City to apply for the subsidy (including public housing communities with established management associations). The application period is between February and December each year.

Applications must be submitted on per-building basis, with the building in question being 10 years old or older, the city government said. Only projects repairing walls facing roads are eligible for the subsidy, with the maximum limit being NT$40,000 per building, the city government said, adding that only established management committees or individuals receiving the consent of over 50-percent of the building’s inhabitants can submit the application.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/25
By: Miao Zong-han and Kuan-lin Liu 

Taipei, Oct. 25 (CNA) China is maintaining its carrot and stick approach to Taiwan following the conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chang Hsiao-yueh (張小月) said Wednesday, urging China to adopt a new way of approaching cross-Taiwan Strait exchanges.

Chang presented the Legislative Yuan with the MAC’s updates on China’s policies on Taiwan following the CPC’s 19th National Congress, predicting that the Chinese government will maintain officially an icy attitude toward the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), while offering incentives to the Taiwanese public to enjoy exchanges with the Chinese people and to visit China.

On maintaining the status quo, the minister also forecast that an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) will result in no unexpected announcements regarding cross-strait relations.
[FULL  STORY]

SOLAR SYSTEMS:The government is to offer subsidies for communities in remote areas and ease the restrictions on installing solar panels on illegal rooftop structures

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 26, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

The Cabinet has approved a plan to subsidize the construction and design costs of

residential rooftop solar systems, starting next year, as part of its efforts to boost solar power generation.

A stimulus package introduced yesterday would offer subsidies to households installing rooftop solar systems, covering 40 percent of construction costs and 100 percent of design costs, from next year to 2020, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said.

The government would also offer subsidies for the construction of public solar power stations in remote areas and Aboriginal lands, covering 100 percent of design costs, Shen said.

It would offer a subsidy of up to NT$600,000 for each power station for the construction of power lines, and would promise to purchase the extra electricity generated, Shen added.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 24, 2017
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

TAIPEI (CNA) – Starting Oct. 26, people traveling by air from Taiwan to the United

States will be subject to stricter security checks before departure, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said Tuesday.

The new security checks will be carried out in compliance with the U.S.’ recent introduction of additional flight security measures, which are being implemented in two phases as part of its global counterterrorism efforts, the CAA said.

It said the first stage began on July 17 with tighter security screening of passengers traveling with electronic devices other than cellphones on flights to the U.S. In the second stage, passengers on China Airlines, EVA Airways and United Airlines flights to the U.S. will be required to answer additional security questions, starting Thursday, the CAA said.

During the check-in process, departing passengers will be asked whether they had packed their bags themselves, had left their luggage unattended at any time in the airport, or were carrying luggage for anyone else, said Han Chen-hua (韓振華), director of the CAA’s Air Transport Division.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2017/10/24
By: Tim Ferry

Concern is growing as to whether Taiwan can meet its objectives to both eliminate

nuclear power and greatly cut carbon emissions by 2025. The reliance on nuclear has already fallen sharply, as several reactors that had to be temporarily shut down have not been brought back online. In the meantime, increased generation from coal-fired plants is taking up most of the slack. Due to regulatory and environmental obstacles, solar and wind projects are behind schedule.

A massive blackout on Aug. 15 knocked out power to more than six million households and businesses throughout Taiwan. Beyond the immediate impact, it heightened fears that Taiwan may not be managing its energy transformation well, putting its critical manufacturing sector at risk.

Taiwan’s electronics and machinery sector accounts for more than 50 percent of exports for the trade-dependent nation, with major global players such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Pegatron (和碩), Hon Hai (鴻海), Micron (美光), and Corning operating at tremendous production capacity. High-tech manufacturing depends on reliable power, and even the briefest interruption in power can result in huge losses.    [FULL  STORY]

Puyuma Express passenger train on Taitung Line headed north derailed just before Sanmin station

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/24
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A north-bound No. 431 Puyuma Express train heading from

Taitung to New Taipei’s Shulin District suddenly derailed at about 4:25 p.m. this afternoon, just outside of Sanmin Station in Hualien County, according to an eyewitness.

According to a 34-year-old French entrepreneur on board, Edouard Roquette, who was originally bound for Taipei, the ride had been uneventful until the train started to near Sanmin Station when the car he was in started “shaking hard left and right, and people were thrown sideways in their seat… Nothing happened before it and it caught everyone by surprise.”

Roquette then describes what he did next, “I immediately grabbed the seat in front of me. I didn’t see anyone falling. Mostly everyone looked very afraid that the car was going to fall on its side.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/24
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) John J. Norris Jr., the managing director of the Washington office

of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a six-day visit, the AIT announced on Tuesday.

During his stay in Taiwan, Norris will meet with Taiwan authorities and other leaders to exchange views on subjects of mutual interest to both the United States and Taiwan, AIT said in a statement.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) welcomed the visit of the AIT official, saying that the trip is expected to promote closer ties and exchanges between the two countries.

Norris is making his first visit to Taiwan since he assumed his post in September 2016, the ministry said in a statement of its own.    [FULL  STORY]

HAMSTRUNG:The corps said the party assets committee hearing should be invalid, as it was not given a legally required timeframe to prepare to answer the committee’s report

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 25, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

The China Youth Corps yesterday denied an alleged connection with the Chinese

Nationalist Party (KMT), saying at a hearing that the allegation was based on prejudice by the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee.

The hearing was the second by the committee aimed at establishing whether the organization was controlled by the KMT or spun off from the party through questionable sales or transfers — conditions that could prompt the committee to recognize it as an organization founded with ill-gotten party assets.

The committee on Tuesday last week released a report suggesting that the corps has close links to the KMT, as the party had control over the organization’s personnel, finances and management, with former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) directing it for 21 years before being succeeded by other KMT heavyweights.

The organization denied being affiliated with the KMT, saying it was a government agency before becoming an independent nonprofit foundation.    [FULL  STORY]