The China Post
Date: February 19, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Tsai Ing-wen said she felt that marriage equality did not

necessarily conflict with family values, a presidential spokesman said after she met with activists from rival camps over gay rights on Saturday.

Tsai met with representatives from religious groups in the morning and with gay rights activists in the afternoon to gauge their opinions about marriage equality, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang said.

The president had made it clear in both sessions that the issue of marriage equality required more open dialogue, he said.

She also apologized for being late in arranging such a dialogue, acting only after the issue sparked months of fiery debate.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-02-17

Tuesday, February 28 marks the 70th anniversary of the 228 Incident, a series of mass protests ended by

violent suppression by the newly arrived Nationalist (Kuomintang) government. Academics put the number of deaths somewhere between 10,000 and 30,000.

President Tsai Ing-wen will give a speech next Tuesday to mark the occasion and will present letters of rehabilitation to the victims and their family members.

Cities and counties islandwide will hold various events to mark the occasion. The head of the 228 Memorial Foundation, Hsueh Hua-yuan, said the 70th anniversary is more international than before. There will be a memorial service in Los Angeles and Hsueh said the foundation is planning an international symposium. The first French-language book about the tragedy is also set to be published.
[FULL  STORY]

Taoyuan Airport MRT authorities increases number of trial riders to 25,000

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/17
By: Judy Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

Taipei (Taiwan News)—The Taoyuan International Airport MRT increased number tags distributed to

passengers each day during the trial period from a total of 20,000 to 25,000 Friday.

The newly opened MRT line is offering free rides during a two week trial period, running from Feb. 16-March 5, 2017.

Many passengers complained they waited over one hour in line to receive number tags to board the train on Thursday morning at Taipei Main Station, but few people were queuing in line for numbered tags at 3:00 pm Friday.

Passengers may swipe their MRT cards at the entrance gate to access the train platforms, only after picking up a number tag.

Nonetheless, the express trains were packed with curious riders, mostly elderly and parents with small children during second day of the trial, those left without seats stood most of the way.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/17
By: Chu Che-wei and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Feb. 17 (CNA) The Taipei City government on Friday said it has detected bird flu in a chicken slaughtered at the city’s poultry wholesale market two days ago.

The bird was one in a batch of 2,450 chickens from a farm in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City that had been sent to Taipei for sale, according to Taipei’s Department of Economic Development.

It was reported to animal quarantine authorities for tests after it was found with suspicious symptoms including swollen eyes, red skin in the abdomen, legs and wings, and intestinal bleeding, decay and necrosis, during the slaughtering process on Wednesday, the department said.

The results of tests released Friday indicated that the chicken was infected with the highly pathogenic H5N2 virus, which is not transmittable to humans, the department said, urging the public not to panic.
[FULL  STORY]

DONATIONS:The group said that it would give away nearly NT$28 billion to help fund long-term care, Cheng Hsin General Hospital and social welfare organizations

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 18, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

The National Women’s League has submitted all of the financial documents requested by the Ministry of

the Interior (MOI), ministry officials said yesterday.

Civil Affairs Department Deputy Director Luo Rui-ching (羅瑞卿) said that the ministry had received a listing of the league’s assets and debts, completing its required filings following the submission of income and budget reports last month.

Listed assets added up to more than NT$30 billion (US$975 million), with an annual income of more than NT$300 million, Luo said, adding that the documents would be posted online within two working days.

Following the passage of Legislative Yuan resolutions demanding the opening of the league’s finances, the ministry over the past several months has repeatedly demanded that it submit the documentation.

The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee is expected to initiate an investigation into whether the league is an affiliate of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which would make it subject to seizure of its assets by the government.

While organization officials had previously remained silent in face of allegations that the league illicitly benefited from close ties to the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) administration, league chairwoman Cecilia Koo (辜嚴倬雲), in an interview published in the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday, denied KMT links and said that the vast majority of the league’s money should be considered donations rather than from taxes.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: February 18, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Traditional market retailers on Friday called for the government to offer a buffer period

of one to three days for enforcing a ban on the transport and slaughter of poultry.

Retailers issued the call during the first day of the seven-day ban enforced to counter the recent avian influenza outbreak. The ban will run until 12 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24.

They said the ban came too quickly, making it hard for them to cushion the impact.

“It’s OK for the chicken retail market to be suspended in line with the ban, but a buffer of one to three days would be better so that we can make necessary preparations,” said one retailer, surnamed Ku, in Taipei’s Nanmen market.

Another retailer, surnamed Chen, said that chickens raised indoors that are shipped directly to slaughterhouses, which are exempt from the ban, sold out on Friday, one day earlier than estimated by officials with the Council of Agriculture (COA).
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: February 16, 2017

Taiwan achieved its best ever ranking in the Index of Economic Freedom, climbing three

spots to No. 11 out of 180 economies, according to the annual report’s compiler Washington-based think tank The Heritage Foundation Feb. 15.

With a score of 76.5 out of 100, up 1.8 points from the 2016 edition, Taiwan was categorized as “mostly free” along with 86 other economies, including the U.K. at No. 12 and the U.S. at No. 17. In the Asia-Pacific region comprising 43 economies, it came in at No. 5, ahead of South Korea at No. 23 and Japan at No. 40.

Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland and Australia topped the report in that order, with the five countries the only ones classified as “free.” North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba claimed the bottom three spots in that order with a classification of “repressed.”    [FULL  STORY]

Seven-day ban will have limited exceptions

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/16
By: Matthew Strong,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The transportation of poultry will be banned for seven days

beginning Friday as a measure to combat the spread of bird flu, the Council of Agriculture announced Thursday.

Thousands of chickens, ducks and geese have been culled in several counties and cities in Southern and Eastern Taiwan since February 6 following an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N6 bird flu virus. The type of influenza is highly contagious and could spread to humans, officials said.

The town of Yuli in Hualien County near the east coast was the first focus of the outbreak, but cases have since been diagnosed in Tainan City and in the counties of Chiayi and Yunlin.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/16
By: Sophia Yeh and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Feb. 16 (CNA) Nearly 70 percent of people in Taiwan have expressed concern

that they or their children might not be able to receive a pension if the country’s various pension systems go bankrupt, according to a poll released by the Taiwan Thinktank Thursday.

According to the poll on the government’s proposed pension reforms, 69.2 percent of the respondents said they are worried that they or their children could find themselves unable to get a pension in the future, with the 20-to-49 age group having the highest rate among those who had the same opinion.

It also shows that 67 percent of those polled expressed support for pension reforms.
[FULL  STORY]

BETTER TIES?AIT spokeswoman Sonia Urbom said that a new compound, which is to open this year in Taipei’s Neihu, shows deepening US commitment to Taiwan

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 17, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The US is to post US Marines at the new compound of the American Institute in Taiwan

(AIT) once it is completed and AIT personnel are moved to the site in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖), former AIT director Stephen Young said on Wednesday.

Young, who served as AIT director from 2006 to 2009, said he had pushed strongly for the US to “have a [US] Marine security detachment protecting the mission in Taipei” and that he is “proud to say that it is the case today.”

The retired diplomat made the remarks at a speech at a conference held by Global Taiwan Institute, a Washington think tank, to discuss US President Donald Trump’s Taiwan policy.    [FULL  STORY]