Four of the cases uncovered in the report involve defendants who have been executed.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/03/30
By: Edward White

There is evidence of serious flaws in the handling of mental health issues in the

judgments delivered to at least 10 people sentenced to death in Taiwan over the past 15 years, according to a report set to be released later today.

Since 2015, lawyers and anti-death penalty advocates having been reviewing some 75 judgments in which the death penalty had been handed down by Taiwan’s courts. That work has led to an initial report, reviewed by The News Lens, which exposes a raft of flaws in 10 judgments delivered since 2004.

Four of the judgments relate to cases in which the defendant has already been executed, including Cheng Chieh (鄭捷), the most recent person to be executed in Taiwan. The 23-year-old was executed on May 10, 2016, two years after he killed four and injured 22 in a stabbing spree on the Taipei subway.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/03/30
By: Ku Chuan and Christie Chen

Taipei, March 30 (CNA) Taiwan’s Cabinet on Thursday expressed regret that China had

not offered an explanation of the disappearance of Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who Chinese authorities said was being investigated on suspicion of endangering their country’s national security.

Lee has not been in contact with anyone in Taiwan for 12 days since he entered China, yet Beijing has not given any details of its investigation or of Lee’s whereabouts, despite repeated calls in the public and private sectors in Taiwan to do so, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said at a press conference Thursday.

“Our government finds that deeply regrettable,” Hsu said. Lee, a staff member at Wenshan Community College in Taipei and a former Democratic Progressive Party worker, disappeared on March 19 after entering China from Macao.   [FULL  STORY]

FORWARD THINKING:The Executive Yuan’s proposal stipulates a revision to the rules in 2022 to ensure that the nation’s pension system stays afloat for another 20 years

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 31, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a series of draft amendments seeking to

reform the pensions and benefits granted to private-sector workers and public-school teachers as part of a plan to revive the nation’s pension system.

The Cabinet passed draft amendments to the Labor Insurance Act (勞工保險條例) and a draft act on retirement benefits for public-school teachers, which seeks to hike insurance premiums and lower income replacement rates.

According to the draft amendment, the labor insurance premium would be raised from 9.5 percent of a worker’s monthly salary to 12 percent in 2022, in annual increments of 0.5 percentage points.

The government would assess the need for further premium adjustments in 2022 to ensure that the pension fund would stay afloat for another 20 years.   [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: March 31, 2017
By: Stephanie Chao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — After a day of heated protests by retired public servants, the

Examination Yuan and Executive Yuan on Thursday rolled out their versions of contentious pension reform regulations.

The agencies were tasked with making revisions to laws drafted by a pension reform committee — the revised versions will now move from the administrative branch to the Legislature for review by lawmakers.

The Examination Yuan oversees civil servants; the Executive Yuan was tasked with revising regulations governing public school teachers and private sector workers.

The Executive Yuan’s bill closely followed the wording of the committee’s version; however, the Examination Yuan deviated on some key points.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: March 29, 2017, 2:00 pm TWN
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Retired police and firefighters protested against proposed pension

reform measures at the Martyrs’ Shrine Wednesday morning in Taipei, vowing to take to the streets later in the afternoon.

Dozens of protesters knelt to present a petition to President Tsai Ing-wen, who was scheduled to pay respects to fallen soldiers at the shrine as part of a Youth Day commemoration. The president’s motorcade drove past the protesters.

Furious after being ignored, protesters held back by barricades ripped up the petition and called on Tsai to step down.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2017/03/29
By: ZiQing Low

Lee Ming-cheh is being detained in China by a branch of the state security police.

A Taiwanese NGO worker detained in China regularly talked about democracy and transitional justice on one of China’s most popular social media platforms, according to his employer in Taiwan.

Lee Ming-cheh (李明哲), who was reported missing on March 19, is being detained in China by a branch of the state security police, his wife told reporters in Taipei on March 28. Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), said she had received the news from the Taiwan government on the night of March 27.

Lee, who works as a manager in Taipei’s Wenshan District Community College, had previously held weekly conversations on the Chinese messaging and social media platform WeChat, the principal of the college, Cheng Hsiu-chuan (鄭秀娟) told The News Lens this morning.    [FULL  STORY]

Prosecutors say silent album track showed creativity

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As thousands of fans gathered in a Taipei park Wednesday

night to hear rock band Mayday (五月天), prosecutors announced that a fraud accusation over 19 seconds of silence on their album “History of Tomorrow” (自傳) had no merit.

A free 20th-anniversary concert of the band at the Daan Forest Park attracted massive media and public attention, with traffic restrictions in full force amid fears of chaos.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors said they would not be taking action against the band after fraud allegations from a fan. A 50-year-old man from Kaohsiung named Pan bought Mayday’s 19th-anniversary album last year and found out that the 14th track, titled “What’s your story?” contained only 19 seconds of total silence.   [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/03/29
By: Wang Chao-yu and Ko Lin

Taipei, March 29 (CNA) A Chinese fishing boat and its crew were seized and detained

after they were caught fishing near Taiwan’s Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼), the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said Wednesday.

The eight crew members, along with the captain, were taken to the authorities in Keelung for alleged violations of Article 32 and Article 80 of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, the CGA said in a statement.

The captain, surnamed Guo (郭), admitted to fishing in Taiwan waters near 20 nautical miles off the northeastern coast of Pengjia Islet, saying that he had just cast his net when the coast guard arrived.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-03-28

The Presidential Office said Tuesday that it is working to secure the release of Lee

Ming-che, a Taiwanese democracy advocate detained by Chinese authorities. That’s after Lee’s wife, Lee Ching-yu, revealed earlier in the day that she had been informed about her husband’s detention.

Mr Lee is a staff member at Wenshan Community College in Taipei and a former staffer for the Democratic Progressive Party. He went missing on March 19 after crossing the mainland Chinese border from Macao. Mr Lee is understood to have shared information about Taiwan’s democratic development and about human rights issues with friends in China. Mrs Lee believes this is the reason he has been detained. She called on the Chinese authorities to declare why they are holding her husband.    [FULL  STORY]