ONE DECADE ONInvestigations into public servants combining years of service for their pensions claims were first launched in 2005, but failed to pass the KMT-majority legislature

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

An act to recover wrongfully paid government pensions was yesterday passed into law

after a 10-year push, with former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) and prominent members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to be asked to return some benefits.

The legislature approved the Act on the Settlement of the Combination of Years of Service in Public Sector and Political Organizations (公職人員年資併社團專職人員年資計發退離給與處理條例), which when promulgated requires people paid a pension for the time they spent working for the KMT and non-governmental organizations to return the excess payments within one year.

The act is expected to affect 381 former ministers, government officials and teachers, including Lien, former KMT vice chairman Jason Hu (胡志強) and former Examination Yuan president John Kuan (關中).    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 26, 2017
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The United States would continue to support Taiwan’s participation

in the World Health Assembly (WHA), a U.S. envoy said Tuesday.
The country is still anxiously awaiting an invite to the World Health Organization’s annual decision making summit, to be held in Geneva next month.

“We continue to support Taiwan’s meaningful and substantive contributions to the international community. In particular, the United States has welcomed Taiwan’s participation as an observer at the past eight World Health Assembly meetings,” American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty told an event in Taipei.

“We look forward to Taiwan’s continued participation at this important event,” Moriarty said in his opening remarks to a workshop on public health joined by local and international experts.    [FULL  STORY]

Here we go again: Taiwan’s participation in international organizations continues to be undermined and blocked by Beijing.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/04/24
By: ZiQing Low

Amid continued pressure from Beijing, Taiwan looks set to continue to receive the cold

shoulder at a range of international events this year.

Despite efforts by the Taiwanese government to secure an invitation to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA) this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) secretariat has yet to decide whether or not to issue one to the country, Taipei Times reports. The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the WHO and will convene this year from May 22-31 in Geneva. Taiwan still hopes to receive an invitation, but the deadline for online registration is May 8.

In light of Beijing’s efforts to undermine Taiwan’s position in the international community, it remains to be seen if Taiwan will eventually be invited to the WHA. However, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) has said he will lead a delegation to Geneva even if Taiwan does not receive an invitation.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/24
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Taipei is ranked as the third safest city in the world according to

the Crime Index 2017 compiled by Numbeo.com, only trailing slightly behind Abu Dhabi of United Arab Emirates and Munich of Germany.

The website surveyed 378 cities and ranked them according to the crime index rate of each city. Cities with a crime index rate below 20 mean that they are extremely safe, while cities with a crime rate between 60 and 80 are considered high-crime areas. A crime index rate between 20 and 40 is considered low, while a rate falling between 40 and 60 is medium, according to the website.

Taipei’s crime index rate is 15.76 compared to Abu Dhabi’s 15.51 and Munich’s 15.72. The top 10 safest cities include Basel of Switzerland, Arhus of Denmark, Heidelberg of Germany and Doha, the capital city of Qatar.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/24
By: Sophia Yeh and Y.F. Low

Taipei, April 24 (CNA) Eleven months after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) returned to power, almost 60 percent of the public is dissatisfied with its performance, while President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) approval rating remains below 40 percent, according to a monthly poll released Monday.

In the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation survey, 59.1 percent of the respondents said they were unhappy with the performance of the DPP, which is in control of both the executive and legislative branches, compared with 35 percent who said they were satisfied.

Meanwhile, 46 percent said they disagreed with Tsai’s handling of state affairs, including her policies and top personnel appointments, and only 38.6 percent expressed approval, according to the survey.    [FULL  STORY]

FLUCTUATIONSAccording to the Women’s League’s tax filings, it earned NT$850 million in interest in 2008, but that dropped significantly to NT$300 million by 2015

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 25, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

The Ministry of the Interior is to remove Cecilia Koo (辜嚴倬雲) from her position as

National Women’s League chairwoman if the organization continues to refuse requests to provide documentation on how the “military benefit tax” was used, Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) said yesterday.

“If they remain unmoved and keep clinging to the position that they cannot provide the information because of the time that has passed, then we should remove their leader, and we would follow the correct procedure to do that,” Yeh said in response to questions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) at a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee over how the ministry would respond if the group rejected its latest demand for information.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 25, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The plan was reached after four hours of discussions on Monday at a

panel session as part of the Judicial Reform National Conference organized by the Presidential Office.

Of the 18 members present at the session, 16 voted to pass a reform program proposed by the Judicial Yuan concerning the number of judges at the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, and concerning how the judges will be selected and appointed.

The plan will be completed over the next five years, transforming the top-heavy nature of the current system to a more balanced pyramid-like structure, according to the panel.

The number of judges at the Supreme Court will be cut to only 14 and that of the Supreme Administrative Court slashed to 7 in the coming five years.    [FULL  STORY]