Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/15
By: Miao Tsung-han and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Chinese activist Zhang Xiangzhong (張向忠), who left his tour

group on Thursday and whose whereabouts are currently unknown, indicated online that he plans to request political asylum from the Mainland Affairs Council – the nation’s top China policy planning agency, next Tuesday.

Zhang, who arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday as part of a tour group on an eight-day trip, said time permitting he will call on the Taiwan Association for China Human Rights, a non-government organization set up in 2011, which he said had assisted him with temporary accommodation.

In response to reports about Zhang’s plan to ask for political asylum, the MAC said that if Chinese nationals apply for asylum, the government agency in charge of such matters, the National Immigration Agency (NIA), will conduct an investigation in accordance with related regulations.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 16, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), yesterday rejected a New Taipei City Government

press release asserting that he had reached a consensus with New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) on “working together” to attract funds earmarked for the central government’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Construction Project.

The New Taipei City Government yesterday issued a press release saying the two municipalities had arrived at an agreement to jointly request financing for three New Taipei City-led Mass Rapid Transit System (MRT) metropolitan railway construction projects following a meeting on Friday between New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Yeh Hui-ching (葉惠青) and Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基).

The MRT construction projects for which the two municipalities have agreed to submit joint budget requests are a line from New Taipei City’s Shijhih District (汐止) to Taipei’s Minsheng District (民生), stage two construction of the Wanda line and a circular line, New Taipei City said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 15, 2017
With: Enru Lin

Relatively few people are eating dog, like I feel that people don’t really have this

problem. But it is OK to have the law. I don’t think it hurts.

It does feel restrictive though. I think the relationship between the people and the government is like a child-parent relationship, and no matter what rules they give you, you will feel a bit rebellious. It doesn’t matter what rule it is, this will be always the case. The government can educate the people, no matter what, but they need to state their reasoning.

Tim & Lisa, German tourists about to leave Taiwan

Tim: (If this happened in Germany, I would think) the government may be doing too much in this respect.

Lisa: Great last day (for us), great news! Probably if a stranger heard about this, the stranger would think you had been eating cats and dogs.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-14

The Presidential Office says Taiwan’s national security team has already prepared

contingency plans as tensions rise on the Korean peninsula. That’s the word from Presidential Office spokesperson Alex Huang on Friday.

“The national security team has been closely monitoring the possible geopolitical and the economic impact of [tensions] on the region, including Taiwan. To ensure our national interest and the safety and welfare of our people, the [team] has mapped out all kinds of preparations needed to cope with it,” said Huang.

Huang said Taiwan, as part of the global community, hopes to maintain regional peace and stability.    [FULL  STORY]

LAX checks failed to find handgun and 6 bullets: reports

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/14
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A police officer from Santa Monica, California, gave up a gun

and six bullets which she had brought along in a bag but only found during transit at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, reports said Friday.

Nell Grant, who arrived on a China Airlines flight from Los Angeles to transit to Bangkok Thursday, voluntarily handed over the items and showed a California police badge to confirm her identity.

She told the airport police that the weapons and ammunition were hers, but that she must have forgotten to remove them before leaving on her trip. It was not clear how the gun could have made past checks at Los Angeles Airport.

The officer could reportedly still face a maximum of two years in prison according to Taiwan laws. The Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office was questioning her, while the American Institute in Taiwan provided her with an attorney.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/14
By: Wu Tze-hao and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Friday that Changhua will be served by a mass rapid transit (MRT) system, as a major government infrastructure program will include the extension of the Green Line of Taichung’s MRT system to Changhua.

Tsai traveled to Changhua to attend an event reviewing the results of the county’s solicitation of private investment, and she pledged that the central government will work with the local government to develop infrastructure such as offshore wind power.

Arguing that Changhua should have an MRT system, she said the Green Line of the Taichung MRT system will extend to northern Changhua, something Changhua County Magistrate Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) has asked the Executive Yuan to support several times.    [FULL  STORY]

‘LIFE IS TOUGH’:Company president Hsu Chung-jen said young people complain about low wages, but spend beyond their means on trips abroad and phones

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 15, 2017
By: Chiu Chun-fu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Authorities yesterday said they were investigating comments posted online allegedly

threatening to bomb Pxmart (全聯實業) supermarkets in Taipei City and New Taipei City after the company head made comments about young people spending beyond their means.

The police said a post on Thursday afternoon on the Bahamut forum by a netizen named “Left-wing Agent,” which allegedly threatened indiscriminate bombings at Pxmart supermarkets, breached Article 305 of the Criminal Code.

“I will blow up anyone who goes to Pxmart,” the comment said.
Investigators would track down the author of the post via the IP address and forum registration information, police said, adding that the person responsible would be questioned.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 15, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI — Massive flocks of purple crow butterflies swarmed from Kaohsiung Friday,

heading north during their regular migration and prompting freeway authorities to close the outer lane of a section of freeway No. 3 in southern Taiwan to protect the creatures from vehicles traveling at high speeds.

The butterfly migration began in sunlight after several days of rain, with more than 900 purple crows per minute observed flying from Kaohsiung’s Maolin District, home to the Maolin National Scenic Park, toward the north, according to the Taiwan Purple Crow Butterfly Ecological Preservation Association.

Because Linnei Township in Yunlin County is one of the key rest stops for the migrating butterflies, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau closed the northbound outer lane of the freeway No. 3 Linnei-Tsukou section at around 11:30 a.m. to protect the insects as they crossed the road.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-13

Premier Lin Chuan has announced a plan that seeks to significantly cut air pollution by

the end of 2019.

The plan has set a goal of reducing levels of PM2.5 particulate matter by 18.2% before the target date. The government also hopes to slash the number of red alerts for air quality it puts out in winter. This is a time when Taiwan is especially susceptible to pollution. The plan aims to cut the number of red alerts by 47%.

The premier said Thursday that NT$36.5 billion (US$1.2 billion) has been earmarked to tackle air pollution. The plan includes programs to reduce pollution from boilers, curb the burning of straw in rice fields, and set standards for exhaust filtration systems in restaurants. It also discourages the tradition of burning paper “spirit money” in religious rites.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/13
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor (MOL) has announced that work

restrictions placed on spouses of foreign white-collar workers will be relaxed to allow them to do short-term work.

Considering that when foreign professionals come to Taiwan to work, their accompanying spouses might have the need of finding short-term work under special circumstances, therefore the accompanying spouses will be allowed to take short-term jobs, the MOL said.

They can be paid hourly wages, but the pay rate must be based on the standard salary of NT$47,971 (about US$1,600), which is about NT$200 per hour, the ministry said.

In addition, employers will not be subject to the restrictions of having a capital of NT$5 million and revenues of NT$10 million, the MOL said.

However, the working time of spouses of foreign professionals in Taiwan cannot exceed that of their white-collar spouses, the ministry added.    [SOURCE]