Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou is still entangled in a number of corruption and secret leaks cases.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/20
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following a high-profile indictment last week over a secrets

leak while serving as Taiwan president, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was spared a corruption charge over the unaccounted special expense funds, as the Taipei District Prosecutors Office cited Monday that the Supreme Court acquitted him of the same charge in 2008 and Taiwan’s Legislature has decriminalized the use of the special expense funds occurring before the end of 2006.

The ruling was made in response to a complaint filed by then-legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) and then-city councilor Yen Sheng-kuan (顏聖冠) between 2006 and 2007 over the legitimacy of the use of Ma’s special expense funds as Taipei Mayor and of its use on Ma’s adopted dog. The case had been established before the Supreme Court’s ruling on a similar case in 2008.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/03/20
By: Hsieh Chia-chen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 20 (CNA) Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) on Monday

confirmed that there is a growing military threat from China, which he said has been deploying a new type of medium-range ballistic missiles capable of hitting Taiwan.

Since 2016, China has been pushing military reform, including streamlining its armed forces to improve joint combat capabilities, Feng said in a report to the Legislature on Taiwan’s responses to the changing situation in East Asia since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

In recent years, China’s air and naval forces have built main and auxiliary combat ships and produced the J-10, J-11 and J-15 fighter jets, bought Russian Su-35 fighter jets and unveiled their most advanced stealth J-20 fighter jets, Feng said.
[FULL  STORY]

CONFIRMATION:The Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles deployed in Hualien and Taitung are capable of hitting a DF-16 missile 40km in the air, the defense ministry said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 21, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Ministry of National Defense yesterday confirmed for the first time that China has

Dong Feng-16 (DF-16) missiles aimed at Taiwan in a bid to increase military pressure on the nation.

In a report delivered to the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, the ministry said Beijing has stepped up military threats toward Taiwan, pushing for military reforms and advancing its joint forces operations.

“In recent years, China’s navy and air force have introduced new warships, domestically produced fighter jets — including the Chengdu J-10, Shenyang J-11 and Shenyang J-15 — and Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 multipurpose fighter jets, and put its latest stealth fighter, the J-20, into service,” the ministry said.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has deployed DF-16 ballistic missiles, capable of conducting precise strikes on Taiwan proper, it added.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: March 21, 2017
By: Christine Chou

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Government officials and pundits were scrambling on Monday to

address reports that Taiwan’s top chipmaker may build its most advanced plant yet in the U.S. instead of in Kaohsiung.

Technology Minister Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) rushed to assure the public after media reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) was considering forgoing Taiwan as an location for a new NT$500 billion 3-nanometer (nm) chip fab.

He said TSMC management told him that investing in Taiwan remained their top priority and there were no plans to move the plant to the U.S.    [FULL  STORY]

Assembly of the pool will take about 60 days to complete

Taiwan News
Date: 017/03/19
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A technician from the university posted an article on his Facebook, revealing how the

movable pool is being assembled and his thoughts on the project.

A technician from the university posted an article on his Facebook, revealing how the movable pool is being assembled and his thoughts on the project.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–A technician from the university where the swimming pool-to-be of the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade is being built posted an article on his Facebook, revealing how the movable pool is being assembled and his thoughts on the project.

National Taiwan Sport University technician Wang Yung-chang (王永彰) said on his Facebook page that when he first found out that a temporary standard swimming pool was going to be installed in the school’s gym for the Universiade competition and tons of water would be pumped into the gym, “the first thing that came to mind was the picture of a bunch of kids swimming in an inflatable pool in a sunlit garden; and the gym was going to host a giant inflatable swimming pool where elite swimming athletes from around the world were going to compete in water polo matches.”
[FULL  STORY]

TODAY’S THE DAY:Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Yao Jen-to said that it was not fair to judge the office’s committee before it even had a chance to meet

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 20, 2017
By: Wu Po-wei and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

The Presidential Office’s committee for Aboriginal historic and transitional justice

issues, which is due to hold its first meeting today, has not sufficiently researched the issues it is to discuss, an Aboriginal rights campaigners said yesterday.

There cannot be justice if the committee does not truly understand all of the facts, they said, adding that they are concerned the meeting will lead to little more than the chanting of slogans.

Criticizing the government’s failure to include private land within the scope of the legal definition of traditional Aboriginal territory, a group of campaigners has been staging a “sleepout” on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building since Feb. 23.

They yesterday reiterated their demands that the government retract the proposed Aboriginal land guidelines announced on Feb. 14 and called for the resignation of Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: March 20, 2017
By: The China Post news staff with CNA

A Mainland Affairs Council (MAC, 陸委會) report released Sunday paints a bleak

outlook for the thawing of the cross-strait freeze.

“Mainland China has intensified its anti-independence arguments while insisting on the ‘One China’ principle” since May 20, 2016 when Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen assumed the presidency, the Cabinet-level body’s report reads.

Relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are in a regressive state at present, it continues.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-03-18

The Taoyuan airport metro is operating normally once again after a system anomaly

Friday night led to delays.

A problem with a signal at a station close to the airport meant that passing trains had to switch from high-speed automatic mode to a slower, manual mode. Services were affected from 9:30 to 11:30pm Taiwan time, with delays of eight to fifteen minutes. Passengers reported trains stopping and starting, as well as coming to a standstill altogether.

Repairs to fix the problem were completed early Saturday, and normal services resumed after eight test runs showed no further problems.    [FULL  STORY]