WIDE MARGINS?Legislator Chen Chi-mai said the KMT bought the land in Taipei for NT$10,000 a ping and sold it for NT$1.19m a ping to the Social Welfare Foundation

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 21, 2017
By: Hsiao Ting-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday accused the Chinese

Nationalist Party (KMT) of making NT$580 million (US$18.4 million at the current exchange rate) on the sale of land to the National Women’s League of the Republic of China in 1999.

The league purchased a 501 ping (1,656m2) property on Linsen S Road from the KMT’s Women’s Affairs Committee in 1964.

Chen presented a file showing that 414 ping of the land was registered under the Army Command Headquarters, while the remaining 87 ping belonged to the National Property Administration.

The land was worth NT$10,000 per ping at the time and the KMT purchased the land at that rate, buying the entire property for NT$5 million, which it paid in installments over 18 years, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
2017/01/19
By: Olivia Yang

‘I’ve seen many Taiwanese social businesses trying very hard and are doing a good

job, but the international community doesn’t see their efforts.’

“I think many social businesses in Taiwan think that if they share a portion of their profit to the general public then they are a social business. But they are not. The mission of these companies should be related to social problems and all profit should be reinvested.”

Professor Shen Chien-wen (沈建文) says this with a firm and serious tone. He has been teaching at the Department of Business Administration at National Central University (NCU) since 2009, and is also director of the Yunus Social Business Centre (YSBC) at NCU.    [FULL  STORY]

Official said improvement has been made over years

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/19
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei (Taiwan News) – A five-day review meeting of the ROC’s Second Report under

the ICCPR and ICESCR was held in Taipei this week. In the review, experts address the issue of prison overcrowding in Taiwan which is considered an unacceptable violation of human rights by the attending international law experts.

The ICCPR and ICESCR are the two UN covenants on human rights.

Peer Lorenzen, a retired judge and section president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) cited an important ruling by ECHR in 2012, saying that imprisonment in under three square meters may violate human rights.

The required living space per prisoner is far from being met in Taiwan, according to the experts, which was in part blamed for a ruling by the high court in Scotland in 2016 that rejected Taiwan’s extradition request for Zain Dean.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/19
By: Chen Chia-lun and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday urged the incoming U.S. administration of Donald Trump to support Taipei’s continued efforts to maintain cross-strait peace and reiterated that Taiwan should not be used as a bargaining chip in the relationship between the United States and China.

The government attaches great importance to Taiwan’s relations with the United States and China and remains consistent and firm on its policy of promoting cross-strait peace and stability, MAC Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said at a press briefing, when asked to comment on a suggestion made by Trump that he would negotiate over the “one China” policy with Beijing after taking office.

Taipei is committed to promoting a balanced relationship with the United States and China and hopes that the new U.S. government, on the basis of the Taiwan Relations Act and the six assurances, will support Taiwan’s efforts to maintain cross-strait peace, Chiu said.    [FULL  STORY]

‘PEACEFUL’:The KMT vice chairman expressed support for unification with China, saying that it would occur when both sides are free, democratic and prosperous

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 20, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday

dismissed speculation that he is planning to take a back seat to former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) to increase Wu’s chance of winning the party’s chairperson election in May.

Hau made the remarks during an interview at Taipei-based Pop Radio, in which he was quizzed about the KMT’s May 20 chairperson election and his future endeavors.

“Regarding allegations that I might withdraw from the race because of Wu, that is definitely not the case,” said Hau, who announced his bid earlier this month. “All candidates should know that we should all give our all and must not engage in any match-fixing attempts. I hope this race can change the KMT’s ‘fixer culture.’”

Speculation about Hau’s potential withdrawal emerged after he pledged in his candidacy announcement to withdraw from the election if a candidate would promise not to use the leadership post as a stepping stone for their political career and help find the best candidates for next year’s local elections and the 2020 presidential race.   [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 20, 2017
By: Stephanie Chao

Vice President Chen Chien-jen announced the government’s pension reform plans

Thursday ahead of Sunday’s national conference on the issue, with a proposal to phase out a controversial 18 percent preferential savings rate grabbing the most attention.

The reform will save multiple pension systems from bankruptcy for at least a generation, Chen said at a press conference announcing the measures.

Insolvency of the civil servant pension fund will be pushed back to 2044, while those for teachers and laborers will be funded until 2043 and 2036, respectively, he said.

The proposals will be on the table for discussion Sunday during the national conference on pension reform at the Presidential Office.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 17, 2017

Taiwan’s trade and foreign student numbers are on the rise as a result of public and

private sector initiatives carried out in line with President Tsai Ing-wen’s New Southbound Policy, according to the Office of Trade Negotiations under the Executive Yuan.

One of the key components of Tsai’s national development strategy, the peoplecentric policy seeks to deepen agricultural, business, cultural, education, trade and tourism links with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, and Australia and New Zealand.    [FULL  STORY]

The founder of Foxconn has turned down an invitation to Trump’s inauguration ceremony this Friday in an effort to reassure Beijing that his company will not decamp from China.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/17
By:Wendy Lee ,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Terry Gou, Taiwanese tycoon and the founder of Foxconn Technology Group, has reportedly moved to reassure Beijing that his company will “remain committed to China,” after the company was speculated to be considering moving its production off China and to the United States, according to a Bloomberg report.

The Taiwan-based manufacturing giant behind Apple’s iPhone has recently revealed its interests to move part of its investment to the United States, drawing concerns from a high-ranking Chinese official, the report said.

During his campaign rallies, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had repeatedly promised to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, and has been more specifically targeted Apple, pushing the technology giant to make their new products in the country.    [FULL  STORY]