Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/14
By: Chen Wei-ting and William Yen

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) The sea warning for Typhoon Talim was lifted at 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

As of 8 p.m., the typhoon was 400 kilometers northeast from Taipei, moving in a northerly direction at 8 kilometers per hour with maximum sustained winds of 173 kph and gusts of 209 kph, CWB data showed.

The typhoon is expected to hit Japan on Saturday and travelers to the area are advised to check the status of flights, said CWB forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳).

He also said that as the typhoon moves away, the weather in Taiwan from Friday to Sunday will be clear to cloudy with possible thunderstorms in central and southern areas.    [SOURCE]

GENEVA SESSION:Huang Yi-bee and Chiu Ee-ling appeared before the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to tell it about Lee Ming-che

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 15, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Taiwanese rights campaigners on Wednesday testified before the UN Human Rights

Council’s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances about China’s detention and trial of human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲).

The Working Group meets three times a year and its latest session began on Monday. Its primary task is “to assist families in determining the fate or whereabouts of their family members who have disappeared,” and the first three days of each session are devoted to meetings with family members of missing people as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or governments.

Despite concerns that Republic of China (ROC) passport holders would be barred from the UN’s Palace of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, during the session, Covenants Watch chief executive officer Huang Yi-bee (黃怡碧) and Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Chiu Ee-ling (邱伊翎) had no problem entering the building.

Huang and Chiu presented Lee’s case to the Working Group.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-12

Premier William Lai has expressed regret over the trial of Taiwanese activist Lee

Ming-che in China. Lee on Monday pleaded guilty to the charge of “subversion of state power” in court in the central Chinese city of Yueyang.

Premier Lai said Tuesday that Lee is affiliated with a non-profit organization and is a human rights activist. He said Lee could not have committed an act of subversion against China’s government. Lai expressed regret that Lee had pleaded guilty, saying, “[Lee] could not have tried to subvert the Chinese government. He does not have the ability to overturn the Chinese authorities. Today, it is regrettable for Lee to have been tried and to have pleaded guilty in an unacceptable trial process.”

Premier Lai said he is instructing the Mainland Affairs Council, the Straits Exchange Foundation and the justice ministry to make it a priority to bringing Lee safely back home to Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

“A thousand people witnessing the miracle of music, the acclamation of art.”  

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/12
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (NTSO) teams up with Taipei Symphony Orchestra (TSO) inviting renowned conductor Lan Shui and four choirs to present a unique and dramatic masterpiece – Mahler Symphony No. 8 – for the opening concert of this season.

Because of its huge scale and requirement of huge instrumental and vocal forces, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 is rarely performed, and it has been six years since this “Symphony of a Thousand” was played in Taiwan last time.

As the composer said himself, “This is the greatest piece of work I have created so far. Its form and content are so unique, it is difficult to describe it in words. Imagine that the whole universe bursts into song. We hear no longer human voices, but those of planets and suns circling in their orbits. For me, all the symphonies I wrote before were only preludes to this one. They are filled with subjective tragedy, only this symphony is the fountain of extreme joy and happiness.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/12
By: Ku Chuan and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Employees working in Taiwan’s public sector will likely enjoy a pay raise next year after a freeze of more than six years, an anonymous source familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

According to the source, Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has finalized a plan to impose a 3 percent pay raise for the public sector next year in a bid to help stimulate a similar move by employers in the private sector.

The news of the pay hike came after Lai was sworn in as premier on Sept. 8, when the government’s general budget bill for 2018 was withdrawn from the Legislature for revision, the source said, adding that details of the revision would be released the following day.    [FULL  STORY]

HEAVY RAIN:People in the north and northeast have been advised to prepare for heavy to extremely heavy rainfall as Talim’s 200km radius passes over the nation

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 13, 2017
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

People have been advised to brace for Typhoon Talim today as it approaches the

eastern and northern coasts of Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.

The bureau did not issue a sea alert until 2:30pm yesterday as it adjusted the typhoon’s projected path.

The bureau had forecast Talim’s eye would make landfall in the northeast, but yesterday revised its prediction, saying that the typhoon would only move through the waters near the north coast before heading toward Japan.

As of 8:30pm yesterday, Talim’s center was 680km southeast of Taipei, moving northwest at 16kph with a storm radius of 200km.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 12, 2017
By: The China Post

Tour bus passengers will be required by law to buckle up by the end of the year, the

Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said Tuesday.

The MOTC’s announcement came one day after six passengers were killed after they were thrown off a tour bus that crashed on a freeway guardrail in Kaohsiung on the early hours of Monday.

Deputy Director-General of MOTC’s Department of Railways and Highways Chang Shun-ching (張舜清) said that most of the tour buses operating in Taiwan are already equipped with seatbelts since the MOTC made them mandatory in buses manufactured after July 2007. Current regulations, however, only requires passengers on specific seats such as the shotgun seat to wear seatbelts.

The MOTC took up the issue in review of safety rules in the wake of a February tour bus accident that killed 33, Chang said. The MOTC reached an agreement with tour bus operators to make seatbelts compulsory for all passengers above 4 years old on a tour buses traveling on a freeway or a highway. Operators of buses that violate the regulations can be punished by fines between NT$9,000 to NT$90,000.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date; 2017-09-11

The 21st World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) kicked off in Taipei on

Monday. WCIT is considered one of the largest and most influential technology events in the world. It gathers political and industrial leaders to discuss digital development for the next generation.

In a speech at the opening ceremony, President Tsai Ing-wen said that the government is proactively relaxing regulations to turn Taiwan into “Asia’s Silicon Valley”. She said her administration is also working on projects to strengthen Taiwan’s digital infrastructure. The president said that will help upgrade local industry, narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, and improve the quality of life.

Tsai encouraged overseas talent and enterprises to work with Taiwanese companies.

Tsai said, “We welcome any enterprises that are engaged in the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 or AI to come to Taiwan and work with our local supply chains to develop more innovative digital products and applications. Second, the Taiwan government is willing to provide adequate resources to let the younger generation fulfill their digital dreams and to create an environment appropriate for innovative industries. These are the core missions of my administration.”    [FULL  STORY]