The China Post
Date: October 10, 2017
By: Lu Hsin-hui, Ku Chuan and Romulo Huang

TAIPEI (CNA) – President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) remarks on cross-Taiwan Strait ties

in her National Day speech Tuesday were designed to tell Beijing again that her repeated commitment to maintaining the cross-strait status quo has not changed, a Taiwanese scholar said that day.

Peng Huei-en (彭懷恩), a part-time visiting professor at Shih Hsin University’s Department of Journalism, said that as a veteran in handling cross-strait relations, Tsai was careful not to make her remarks provocative but to make them acceptable for all parties concerned.

“Tsai wants to demonstrate again to Beijing that her position on cross-strait relations has not changed in the wake of Premier Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) recent remarks on his personal position in support of Taiwan independence,” Peng said.
[FULL  STORY]

Ironically, the event was to mark a ‘new era’ of ties between the Philippine and Chinese militaries following years of tension over control of the West Philippine Sea

Rappler.com
Date: October 09, 2017

What is the difference between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of

China?

It can get really tricky, to be fair, for a layman who doesn’t know that the official name of Taiwan, the island that broke away from China, is actually Republic of China.

It gets downright controversial when governments fail to make the difference.

The Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) apologized to China on Monday, October 9, for using Taiwan’s logo in an event last week to thank Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua and his country for its latest donation of 3,000 assault rifles.

“We have issued an official apology to the government and the people of the People’s Republic of China through His Excellency Zhao Jianhua, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Philippines,” said DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong.    [FULL  STORY]

Food-safety scandals that occurred between 2013 to 2014 in Taiwan led the overnment to increase penalties for responsible parties.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/10/09
By: By Philip Liu, Taiwan Business TOPICS Magazine

On the morning of July 28, Wei Ying-chung, former chairman of Wei Chuan Foods

Corp., reported to the Taipei Prosecutors Office to begin a two-year prison sentence for his involvement in the 2013 edible-oil scandal that dealt a fatal blow to his company — once one of Taiwan’s leading foodstuff manufacturers.

In late April, the appellate Intellectual Property Court upheld Wei’s conviction for having instructed employees of Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co., a Wei Chuan affiliate of which Wei also served as chairman, to raise the share of palm oil in blended oil to 97 percent, leaving only 3 percent for soybean oil, in order to slash production costs. In finding Wei guilty of false labeling and fraud, the court noted that long-term excessive intake of palm oil, with its high content of fatty acid, may lead to clogged arteries. The court also confiscated NT$32.9 million (US$1 million) in gains by Wei Chuan from the illicit business.

The case was the most prominent in a series of food-safety scandals that occurred in 2013-2014, sending shockwaves throughout the society. Another major case, which came to light in October 2013, involved the addition by the Tatung Chang Chi Food Co. of copper chlorophyll to what it claimed was premium 100 percent pure olive oil imported from Spain. In fact, half the content of the product consisted of other inferior oils. Kao Chen-li, then chairman of the company, is now serving a 12-year prison term and the company was fined NT$38 million.    [FULL  STORY]

The results were not received positively by Ministry of Labor officials.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/10/09
By:  Central News Agency

Three issues related to migrants’ rights being voted on in a mock referendum

garnered more than 90 percent of support from voters, mostly migrant workers, but the results were not received positively by Ministry of Labor officials.

Of the 2,447 people who participated, 2,424 voted to demand legal protections for live-in caregivers, and 2,413 supported the right of migrant workers to switch employers without restrictions, according to Taiwan International Workers’ Association (TIWA), which staged the referendum.

The third issue on the ballot was about the private employment brokerage system, which has been criticized for charging high fees for migrant workers.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/09
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) Hundreds of foreign dignitaries, including the prime minister of

Tuvalu and vice president of Honduras, will take part in Tuesday’s festivities to celebrate the Republic of China’s 106th anniversary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Monday.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sosene Sopoaga, Honduran Second Vice President Ana Rossana Guevara Pinto and Paraguay’s Supreme Court head Luis Maria Benitez Riera, are among the guests, MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) told CNA.

St. Lucia Senate President Andy Daniel, St. Lucia House Speaker Leonne Theodore-John, Swaziland Home Affairs Minister Tsandzile Dlamini are also visiting the country for the annual celebrations, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

FIVE-YEAR HIGH:A California resident was honored with a certificate for being the 5,000th returnee. Hundreds of foreign dignitaries have also arrived for the festivities

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 10, 2017
By: Lu Yi-hsuan  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

The number of Taiwanese expatriates returning for Double Ten National Day

festivities is expected to reach a five-year high of 6,393 people, the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) said.

It is great to see so many compatriots returning to Taiwan, Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興) said yesterday after presenting a certificate and a bouquet to the 5,000th returnee, Liao Meng-su (廖孟素).

Originally from Taichung, Liao now works at a government agency in Sacramento, California, and has not been back to Taiwan for 10 years, he said.

Liao said the advertisements for this year’s Double Ten National Day were very creative, and she was delighted find out that she was the 5,000th returnee.
[FULL STORY]

“ATT4Fun” is the hub of Taipei’s night life. At nightfall, the many clubs in the building open their doors to party-goers coming in from all over the city.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/10/07
By: TNL Staff

On the tenth floor of ATT4Fun is Frank, a newly established and lavishly designed club that has a stunning view of Taipei 101 and famed for their house music and cocktails. On the eighth floor is Halo, a restaurant/lounge bar/nightclub combo that plays relaxing house and R&B music during the weekdays and light electro party music on the weekends. Elektro, located on the sixth floor, is famed for their impressive repertoire of DJs, super high EDM music, and wild hordes of party-goers.

But we can’t talk about Taipei’s night life without mentioning KOR Taipei and Omni. Located in the Eastern District, Omni won various international prizes due to its ingenious interior design in just one short year of its establishment. Omni is also famous for inviting internationally popular DJs to spin at their parties.
[FULL  STORY]

China might try to lure away more Taiwan allies after congress: Romberg

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) will keep Taiwan low-key

at the upcoming 19th Congress of the Communist Party, but the island could lose a few more of its allies, top academics in the United States said Friday.

Former American Institute in Taiwan Director Douglas Paal and director of the East Asia Program at the Stimson Center Alan Romberg were among the speakers at a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion about the congress, which opens in Beijing on October 18.

Xi would keep the subject of Taiwan at a low and “cool-headed” level and was unlikely to seek escalation, Paal was reported by the Central News Agency as saying. As to Xi’s next meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump after the congress, both sides were likely to repeat their well-known views, with the Chinese leader mentioning unification and the U.S. side talking about the Taiwan Relations Act, Paal said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/07

Washington, Oct. 6 (CNA) Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) might introduce a

deadline for a resolution on Taiwan during the upcoming Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress this month, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Richard Bush wrote in a recent blog post.

In a post titled “What will Xi Jinping say about Taiwan at the 19th Party Congress?” Bush said the Chinese leader might introduce new elements in the country’s position on Taiwan, such as a deadline for a solution to what Beijing sees as “the Taiwan issue.”

“One possibility here is conveying a sense of urgency about resolving the dispute with Taiwan or even setting a deadline,” said Bush, who was AIT chairman from 1997 to 2002 and currently serves as co-director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies (CEAP) at the Brookings Institution.

He added that Xi himself hinted in a meeting with former Taiwan Vice President Vincent Siew in 2013 that “settling the dispute could not be postponed from generation to generation.”    [FULL  STORY]

CYBERCRIME:Far Eastern International Bank said hackers compromised its network and transferred nearly US$60 million overseas, most of which has been recovered

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 08, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday requested that government agencies review

the nation’s information security after Far Eastern International Bank (遠東商銀) reported that its system was hacked earlier in the week.

The premier was fully briefed on the incident and instructed the government to learn from the case and tighten information security by closing vulnerabilities, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.

Far Eastern on Friday said it reported to the Financial Supervisory Commission that malware had been implanted in its computer system, which affected some of its PCs and servers, as well as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network.

SWIFT is a members-only organization that provides safe and secure financial transactions for its members via a standardized proprietary communications platform, which can facilitate the transmission of information about financial transactions.
[FULL  STORY]