The China Post
Date: April 20, 2017
By: Stephanie Chao

President Tsai Ing-wen said violence “would not slow the pace of reform,” after

protesters outside the Legislative Yuan physically attacked lawmakers prior to a review of two pension reform bills.

Protesters, many of whom camped out on the streets Tuesday night, criticized the government’s use of barbed wire to barricade the Legislative Yuan.

Several demonstrators attacked lawmakers entering the Legislature for the committee review of the two pension reform bills. The protesters also clashed with members of the media, with a news vehicle’s windshield was smashed in the melee.

Government officials attending other legislative committee meetings were also physically confronted by the demonstrators, despite a heavy police presence.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-19

Foreign Minister David Lee says that Beijing remains the biggest challenge to the

government’s New Southbound Policy.

The policy aims to bring Taiwan closer to the nations of South and Southeast Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Lee delivered a report on the policy’s achievements and challenges to the Legislature’s foreign affairs committee Wednesday.

He said that none of the eighteen countries covered under the policy have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. He also said that when it comes to dealings with Taiwan, each of these countries considers its own national interests and the positions of Beijing. According to Lee, these considerations have led some countries to intentionally limit their interactions with Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Sentence for coffee shop killer officially reversed from death penalty to life in prison for murders committed in 2013

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/19
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A female manager of a coffee shop who had been convicted

for the robbing and murder of a couple in 2013, has been given life in prison, reversing the original death sentence she faced that year.

Today, the Supreme Court dismissed the prosecution’s appeal of a life sentence handed down in 2015 to Hsieh Yi-han (謝依涵), 31, on the grounds that she confessed and that a psychological assessment found that Hsieh had made a clean break with her past errors and was at low risk of repeating her crime.

In October 2013, Hsieh had originally been sentenced to death by the Shilin District Court in Taipei for the murder of Shih Chien University assistant professor Chang Tsui-ping (張翠萍), 58, and her husband, Chen Chin-fu (陳進福), 79, before dumping their bodies in the Tamsui River in suburban Taipei in February 2013.

Hsieh had befriended the couple when they visited the Monmouth Coffee (媽媽嘴咖啡) she was managing. Coveting the couple’s large fortune, she laced their drinks with sleeping pills, stabbed them to death, and dragged their bodies into the river. Hsieh then withdrew NT$350,000 from Chen’s bank account, but failed in her attempt to withdraw money from Chang’s account by passing herself off as the murdered woman. The case came to light when the couple’s bodies were discovered near the riverside cafe.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/19
By: Sophia Yeh and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 19 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Wednesday at the Presidential Office, with anti-pension reform demonstrators protesting outside the Legislative Yuan, that violence will not be allowed to slow down pension reform and anyone who engages in violence will be held accountable for their actions.

Following an overnight sleepover protest against pension reforms, protesters composed mainly of public servants, teachers and military personnel rallied outside the Legislative Yuan complex on Wednesday, shouting anti-pension reform slogans, blocking legislators from entering the complex and sparking sporadic clashes.

Tsai called a press conference at the Presidential Office later that day, vowing to pursue pension reforms to the end.    [FULL  STORY]

‘Divecube is the only place in central Taiwan to get a diving license, unless you want to go and give it a try in Taichung harbor.’

The News Lens
Date: 017/04/18
By: David Green

The Divecube Hotel in Taichung opened its doors in February and with them the chance to brush up your scuba and freediving skills, as well as have a little fun in an underwater shipwreck while you’re at it. The News Lens sat down with Divecube chief executive Jim Wang to talk about what inspired him to build the hotel, and how he went from being a non-diver to the owner of Asia’s only indoor pool deep enough to earn PADI certifications.

TNL: What’s your background and how did you come around to the idea of building the Divecube?

Wang: My background is in swimming pool management, something I’ve done around Taiwan for about 20 years. I also operated a sports center on the mainland in Zhejiang. I withdrew from the pool business in 2011, about the same time I saw a picture online of the Nemo 33 hotel in Belgium, which also has its own dive pool. I thought the picture was fake – how could anyone build something that deep – and there was very little information about the hotel itself. Then I realized the Nemo 33 pool had a sectional view – where people in the hotel could see into the pool itself and watch people diving. That’s when I thought they’d done something really special.
[INTERVIEW CONTINUES]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/18
By: George Liao,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taipei’s City Office of Commerce (TCOOC) is organizing a mini

travel program consisting of 10 sessions on weekend afternoons for those who wish to savor the old atmosphere as well as the new flavors of Datong District.

The program was designed to familiarize the public with the eight commercial districts and Iron Street, Wood Street, as well as Zhongshan Book Street in Datong District. The program will take place between May 20 and October 28. The eight commercial districts are Dalongdong, Yuanshan, Daqiaotou Yansan, Dadaocheng, Ningxia, Chaoyang Garment Accessories Street, Station Rear, and Huayin.

The program will feature a total of five itineraries, each consisting of two sessions. Guides with professional backgrounds in history or local culture will lead participants on a journey to explore the various aspects of Datong District through visits to selected stores, temples, and other venues.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/18
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Migrant workers in Taiwan are now eligible for paid leave to visit

their home countries after one year of service, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said Tuesday.

The new regulations, which took effect Tuesday, stipulate that employers cannot refuse to grant paid vacation and certain other types of leave once the conditions are met, or they risk a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 (US$1,974-US$9,870) and revocation of their permits to hire migrant workers, the ministry said.

Under the new regulations, migrant workers also have the right to paid marriage leave, bereavement leave, and personal leave, in accordance with the Labor Standard Law, the Labor Contract Law and the Act of Gender Equality in Employment, which now cover such workers, the ministry said.    [FULL  STORY]

NO ORDINARY PEOPLE:Many pension reform protesters are suspected of having military training, which could pose a threat to police, a Legislative Yuan official said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 19, 2017
By: Chiu Yan-ling and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Pension Reform Oversight Alliance supporters hold flags and banners yesterday as they deliver a petition to the Control Yuan in Taipei. Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times

Barricades placed outside the Legislative Yuan are to remain amid security concerns over ongoing pension reform protests and intelligence reports that agitators, including former special forces personnel, might use smoke bombs and attack officers, a legislative official said yesterday. [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 19, 2017
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Thousands of police officers were deployed around the Legislative

Yuan on Tuesday, ahead of a mass overnight sit-in organized by the Pension Reform Oversight Alliance (監督年金改革行動聯盟) on the eve of a legislative review into a slate of controversial pension reform bills.

Members of the Legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee (司法及法制委員會) vowed to complete the pension reform bills’ preliminary reviews by the end of this week

Protesters, wearing black, held placards reading: “Freedom of speech is banned,” “Breach of retirement contracts by the government allows their employees to fall into poverty” and “Taiwan is ruled by a government without integrity” as they began to camp outside the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2017/04/17
By: ZiQing Low

The Chinese activist who fled a tour group last week may face a tough time to gain

asylum in Taiwan, a local NGO has warned.

The Chinese dissident seeking political asylum in Taiwan visited the Taiwan Association for Human Rights in Taipei this morning and was told he may need more evidence of the threat he faces in China.

Zhang Xiangzhong (張向忠), 48, went missing from a tour group in Taiwan on April 12 and has reportedly said he will seek political asylum in Taiwan. Zhang is a member of the “New Citizens Movement,” a Chinese civil rights group founded by civil rights activist Xu Zhiyong (許志永).

“I have told him that he needs to provide further evidence that he will face an immediate threat of arrest or torture should he return to China,” Taiwan Association for Human Rights association’s Secretary General Chiu E-ling (邱伊翎) told The News Lens. She went on to say that even then the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) might not process the case, as Taiwan does not have a refugee or political asylum law.
Chiu says so far Zhang has only provided documentation of his release from prison.
[FULL  STORY]