TELL NO TALES:Former prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming and former premier Jiang Yi-huah were also called as witnesses in the case against the former president

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 02, 2016
By: Chien Li-chung, Hsieh Chun-lin, Huang Hsin-po and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer

Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was summoned for questioning by the Taipei District

Prosecutors’ Office yesterday on charges of breaching confidentiality laws.

Former premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and former prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) were also summoned as witnesses against Ma in the lawsuit filed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).

The office said it was not precluding having the three questioned together to check their statements.

The charges against Ma stem from a high-profile case in September 2013, when Huang leaked confidential information to Ma regarding a then-ongoing investigation into allegations that Ker and then-legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) were involved in improper use of influence.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 2, 2016
By: Kuan-lin Liu

Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of West Asian and African Affairs

Antonio Chen (陳俊賢) cautioned Taiwanese tourists to be “mindful of overly-friendly locals” when traveling abroad.

During a press conference on Thursday, Dec. 1, Chen said that several Taiwanese tourists visiting Istanbul, Turkey had recently reported cases of con and swindling by locals.

In most scenarios, Chen explained, a friendly local would approach Taiwanese tourists and offer to take them sightseeing. Given that these locals did not present themselves as official tour guides, most tourists believed them to be friendly strangers offering a free service.

The locals would then proceed to take the tourists around the city, eventually ending up at a pre-determined restaurant or bar that was in cahoots with these locals. The restaurant or bar would overcharge the tourists for food and split the proceeds with the locals who took them there. In some cases, Chen reported, the meal would be two to three times more expensive than an average meal in the city.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: November 30, 2016

Taiwan Power Co. and Taiwan Water Corp., two of the nation’s major utilities suppliers, signed a

memorandum of understanding Nov. 29 on forging a long-term partnership in solar power production, marking the start of joint efforts between the two state-run enterprises to boost renewable energy development.

“We’re devoted to the exploration of green power resources such as geothermal, solar and wind,” said Taipower President Chung Bin-li during the MOU signing ceremony at Taiwan Water’s headquarters in central Taiwan’s Taichung City. Considering the increasing difficulty of land acquisition, properties controlled by Taiwan Water are ideal places for such an endeavor, he added.

The two firms plan to install rooftop and ground-mounted solar arrays at water supply plants around Taiwan, and feasibility studies are being carried out on the possibility of utilizing floating solar panels on reservoirs and weirs administered by Taiwan Water.

According to Taipower, the cooling effect of the water beneath floating solar cells makes them more efficient than those on land. Also, with the shade provided by solar panels, water evaporation and algae growth in reservoirs can be reduced so as to improve water quality.    [FULL  STORY]

KMT policy chief Alex Tsai said the U.S. Department of State voluntarily mentioned that the DPP has apparently ignored court ruling in its handling of the party assets issue

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/30
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The American Institute in Taiwan said on Wednesday that the U.S. government does not take a position

on the party assets issue, refuting a Kuomintang official’s claim that the U.S. Department of State had criticized the Democratic Progressive Party government’ way of handling the issue.

KMT Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai made a presentation on the results of his recent visit to the U.S. during a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon. He told the committee that the U.S. Department of State voluntarily mentioned that the DPP has apparently ignored court rulings in its handling of the party assets issue, which obviously deviates from normal behavior of a democratic country.

However, AIT spokesperson Sonia Urbom said the U.S. does not take a position on the party assets issue and that Alex Tsai’s comments on this issue are inaccurate.    [FULL  STORY]

PROGRESSIVE:The ministry said that it did not include increases to annual leave in its initial proposal because tackling everything at once could be counterproductive

Taipei Times0
Date: Dec 01, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

The Ministry of Labor will not propose separate legislation to increase annual holidays as negotiations

over amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) enter the final stretch, Minister of Labor Kuo Fong-yu (郭芳煜) said yesterday, while a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) proposal drew fire from opposition caucuses, who said it failed to specify increases.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has proposed annual leave increases for new workers to placate concerns over planned cuts to national holidays as part of reforms aimed at reducing regular working hours.

“This is not the time to propose another version, because cross-caucus negotiations have already begun and legislative caucuses are now the main actors,” Kuo said.

The ministry did not make a mistake by not proposing increases to annual leave in its original bill, because the issue emerged as part of the legislative review process, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 1, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Wednesday admitted it had been at fault

for the delayed issuing of an alert after a hantavirus-carrying rat was caught at Kaohsiung’s airport.

The rat was caught at Kaohsiung International Airport in September and the CDC soon after confirmed that it was carrying hantaviruses.

But the CDC did not tell the airport about the case until a few days ago, when officials from both sides held the latest session of their regular meetings on public hygiene. CDC officials told airport authorities to step up their efforts at cleaning the airport and eliminating rodents to prevent the spread of hantaviruses.

In a press statement admitting the delay, the CDC said although the fault did not result in a hantavirus epidemic, the CDC will review its internal operations and decide if disciplinary actions will be taken against responsible personnel.    [FULL  STORY]

DPP will not present own version: Ker

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The review of same-sex marriage proposals at the Legislative Yuan has been

scheduled for December 26 amid protests by supporters and proponents of changes.

Taiwan has long been named as the Asian country most likely to be the first to legalize marriages between persons of the same sex, but the push to approve the necessary legislation has become mired in dispute.

Proposals first floundered during the previous Legislature, but after President Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party won last January’s elections by a significant margin, it was thought momentum would soon build again. It only did so however after the death of a retired French lecturer, most likely a suicide out of sadness for his deceased gay partner.

The latest attempts to pass the legislation were met with strong opposition and protests by the opponents of same-sex marriage, often religious groups. They succeeded in having the Legislative Yuan schedule two extra public hearings on the subject.    [FULL  STORY]

DPP will not present own version: Ker

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The review of same-sex marriage proposals at the Legislative Yuan has been

scheduled for December 26 amid protests by supporters and proponents of changes.

Taiwan has long been named as the Asian country most likely to be the first to legalize marriages between persons of the same sex, but the push to approve the necessary legislation has become mired in dispute.

Proposals first floundered during the previous Legislature, but after President Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party won last January’s elections by a significant margin, it was thought momentum would soon build again. It only did so however after the death of a retired French lecturer, most likely a suicide out of sadness for his deceased gay partner.

The latest attempts to pass the legislation were met with strong opposition and protests by the opponents of same-sex marriage, often religious groups. They succeeded in having the Legislative Yuan schedule two extra public hearings on the subject.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/29
By: Lu Hsin-hui, Chu Tze-wei and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Nov. 29 (CNA) Taiwan staged a cross-agency humanitarian rescue drill in waters around Taiping

Island in the South China Sea Tuesday, the first of its kind since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) spoke of her government’s intention to turn the island into a base for humanitarian assistance.

Three aircraft and eight vessels took part in the exercise code-named “Nanyuan (Southern Aid) No. 1 (南援一號)”, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA).

CGA Minister Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) was there to inspect the drill, in which reporters from several international wire services and Japanese media outlets were invited to cover, said CGA.

The drill simulated a fire on the deck of a foreign cargo ship, which caused some of the injured crew members to jump ship near Taiping Island.    [FULL  STORY]