Environmental groups demand investigation

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/10
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – An Italian businessman dumped radioactive nuclear waste in

the ocean near Taiwan in the 1990s, according to documents from an Italian intelligence service declassified Wednesday.

The information was contained in 61 documents from SISMI, an Italian military intelligence department, which were submitted to an Italian parliamentary investigation commission, according to the Italian media.

The reports named Giorgio Comerio as a businessman who made a fortune by sending ships loaded with nuclear and other dangerous materials to the bottom of the sea in the Mediterranean and near Somalia and Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/10
By: Sophia Yeh, Kao Chao-fen and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Taiwan maintains close contacts and communications with the United States, helping ensure “zero surprises,” the Presidential Office said Friday, in response to a telephone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (習近平) a day earlier.

It was the first conversation between Trump and Xi since Trump took office last month.

According to the White House, the two leaders discussed “numerous topics,” and Trump committed to honoring the “one China” policy at Xi’s request after having suggested in December that U.S. backing for the policy might be contingent on a trade deal with Beijing.    [FULL  STORY]

CAPITULATION?One expert said the US president’s reaffirmation of the decades-old position hinted at the moderating influence of his secretaries of state and defense

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 11, 2017
By: AFP, WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump on Thursday reaffirmed Washington’s “one China” policy in

his first conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), an apparent effort to ease tensions after angering Beijing by questioning a major plank of Sino-US relations.

During a telephone call with China’s leader, the US president agreed to “honor” a position that effectively acknowledges that Taiwan is not separate from China.

“President Trump agreed, at the request of President Xi, to honor our ‘one China’ policy,” the White House said in a statement, adding that the two leaders had “extended invitations to meet in their respective countries.”

The White House called the telephone discussion — which came on the eve of Trump’s scheduled meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — “extremely cordial,” saying the leaders “look forward to further talks with very successful outcomes.”
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: February 11, 2017
By: James Lo

The finish line could be nearing for marriage equality campaigners, with the Judicial

Yuan announcing Friday that the Constitutional Court will meet March 24 to decide the fate of two key cases on the matter.

In the hearing, justices will rule on whether the cases — one brought by veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei (祁家威) and the other by the Taipei City Government — required the court to make a constitutional interpretation.

It is Chi’s second time asking the court to rule on the issue. His first such petition 16 years ago landed him in prison.

In the second case, Taipei’s Department of Civil Affairs is seeking an interpretation after the city government was taken to an administration court by 30 same-sex couples whose marriage applications had been turned down.    [FULL  STORY]

‘I eagerly anticipate the appearance of Taiwanese versions of Ellen deGeneres, Matthew Bonham, Anderson Cooper, Tim Cook, Ellen Page, Rachel Maddow, and so on.’

The News Lens
Date: 2017/02/09
By: Jay Lin

Over the Lunar New Year in Southern Taiwan, I met up with a family friend and a well-

respected lawyer who has practiced law for over 25 years. I was planning to recruit her assistance in persuading influential figures and politicians in the South to support the same-sex marriage bill. She needed very little persuasion as she is aware of the legal semantics, and offered to arrange meetings with legislators and business leaders to garner their support. I was very gratified to receive her resounding support.

I then asked if she could introduce any LGBT people in Southern Taiwan for me to connect with. I was met with silence and then a regrettable shake of her head to tell me that she does not know of any gays. There was someone who she thinks might be gay, but has yet to come out to her.    [FULL  STORY]

Tainan Police warn youths to beware of plum powder laced with ecstasy

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/09
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Over 50,000 netizens have shared a post by the Tainan Police

Department’s Juvenile Division on its Facebook page Tuesday warning young people to be on the alert for foods and drinks laced with the drug ecstasy disguised as plum powder.

On the Facebook post, Tainan Police warned that beverages and cigarettes are being laced with a variant of the class-two drug MDMA (ecstasy) going by the street name “King Kong” (金剛) and has the appearance, taste, and smell of sweet plum powder. The police also warned people not to eat pickled fruit flavored with plum powder from strangers and to spread the word to their friends and children.

Police advised that the tainted plum powder does not have the telltale putrid smell associated with Ketamine and the effects are even stronger.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/09
By: Tony Liao and Evelyn Kao

Washington, Feb. 8 (CNA) New U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recently

reaffirmed the Six Assurances regarding U.S. policy toward Taiwan in response to questions from U.S. Senator Ben Cardin before he won confirmation as secretary of state from the Senate on Feb. 1.

In the written responses, Tillerson said that the Three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the Six Assurances provide the foundation for U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan. The United States should continue to uphold its one China policy and support a peaceful and mutually agreeable cross-Taiwan strait outcome.

He was replying to Cardin’s question as to whether the principles of the communiques and the TRA remain the important foundations of the U.S.-China relationship and whether he believes that the One China policy remains valid, or needs revision.
[FULL  STORY]

TWO STRIKES:The ministry said it would give workers who were absent without leave over the holiday up to two demerits, which would be enough for dismissal

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 10, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber, Chen Wei-han and Shelley Shan / Staff reporters

The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that it approved the recruitment of 300 more

employees for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) to ease the agency’s personnel shortage, after more than 100 administration workers rallied in Taipei demanding reduced work hours and that the TRA drop demerits against employees who took off the Lunar New Year holiday
.
Premier Lin Chuan (林全) approved a Ministry of Transportation and Communications request to hire more employees for the understaffed railway sector, with the TRA to recruit about 300 more people in addition to the 115 new employees hired since the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May last year, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.

“Compared with the previous administration, we are absolutely confident in the staffing effort,” he said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: February 10, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Tens of thousands of people will flood into Pingxi in New Taipei on

Saturday to set off sky lanterns into the night sky, as they do every February.

This year, however, could mark the beginning of the end for the activity in its current form, as concerns mount over the environmental cost of the Lunar New Year tradition.

Launching sky lanterns is a centuries-old practice said to have been originated by military strategist Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮) in the Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220-265).

Originally used to transmit military information, the sky lanterns became a Chinese folk tradition, with people writing wishes for the coming year on them before releasing the lanterns up to heaven.    [FULL  STORY]