Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/12
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale struck off Taiwan’s east coast at 6:25 a.m. Saturday morning at a depth of 22 kilometers, according to Central Weather Bureau (CWB) data.

An intensity level of 2 was felt in eastern Taiwan including Su-ao Township of Yilan County and Yilan City, followed by New Taipei City and Taipei City at 1.

Taiwan uses an intensity scale of 1 to 7, which gauges the degree to which a quake is felt in a specific location.

At the same time in Japan, a magnitude-6.2 temblor rocked about 12 kilometers from Onagawa near Sendai at 6:42 a.m. local time at a depth of 44.8 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. No tsunami warning has been issued.    [SOURCE]

If Taiwanese businesses want consumers’ respect, they need to earn it. Playing it cheap and chanting ‘cha bu duo’ has never worked, and it never will.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/11/12
By: Kathy Cheng

Living in Taiwan means being a customer in Taiwan. We are all diners in restaurants and cafes,

shoppers in local markets and department stores, and riders in taxis and public transport.

But live here long enough and you will realize that spending money here is not always a positive experience. Unfortunately, businesses of all types consistently drop the ball when it comes to being original, creative and innovative.

Here are five ways Taiwan’s businesses disappoint:

1. Hey, it’s good enough!
Can you guess the three-word phrase that Taiwanese businesses love to say the most? No, it’s not “I love you,” you romantic fool. It’s cha bu duo (差不多), which means “almost” or “good enough.”

Take Kavalan whiskey, the award-winning homegrown whiskey brand owned by King Car, which also owns Mr. Brown Coffee.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/12
By: Chen Chih-chung and Christie Chen

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) A group of about 100 demonstrators took to the streets in Taipei on Saturday in protest against a draft bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Taiwan and called for a referendum on the issue.

The protesters gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office for a rally that was organized by anti-gay marriage groups, including the Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance.

Pastor Deborah Hsin, one of the main organizers, said marriage should be between a man and a woman and she argued that legalizing same-sex marriage would affect the long-term development of Taiwan, which is already facing a problem of low birth rate.

Calling themselves the “silent majority,” the approximately 100 protesters said a revision of the definition of marriage and family systems should not be made by the lawmakers alone but by all citizens.    [FULL  STORY]

ALL TOGETHER:When Hung bumped into Ma Ying-jeou at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, a crowd starting cheering ‘president Ma,’ chairwoman Hung, the KMT and the ROC

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 13, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday visited Sun Yat-sen

Memorial Hall in Taipei on the 151st anniversary of Sun’s birth, where she said that the KMT is Sun’s true heir, in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) celebration of Sun’s 150th birthday in Beijing on Friday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Friday said that the best way to pay tribute to Sun Yat-sen is to continue to pursue the rejuvenated China that Sun dreamed of, Xinhua news agency reported.

Xi also said that the CCP is “the most resolute supporter, the most loyal collaborator and the truest heir of Sun’s revolutionary enterprise,” the report said.

Hung yesterday said that Sun is the KMT’s “permanent leader” and a great man who led the revolutionary founders of the Republic of China (ROC).    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 13, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Taiwanese non-governmental organization said Saturday that Beijing barred its

chairman from making a speech at a United Nations-affiliated meeting on rare diseases in New York last week.

The Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders (TFRD) said China made a last-minute appeal Friday to prevent its chairman Tseng Min-chieh from attending the Global Gathering for Rare Diseases where he had been invited to talk about how Taiwan could contribute to the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The foundation said in a statement posted on its website that it was disappointed by China’s “rough political intervention.” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) both protested China’s “obstructionist” behavior, according to the Central News Agency (CNA).

Wang Ying-wei, head of the MOHW’s Health Promotion Administration, was cited by the CNA as saying that TFRD’s work to help patients of rare diseases had nothing to do with politics, and yet China “oppressed it in an unreasonable manner.”    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: November 11, 2016

A biomedical promotion plan budgeted at NT$10.94 billion (US$346.32 million) for next year was

approved Nov. 10 by the Executive Yuan as part of government efforts to further advance President Tsai Ing-wen’s five-plus-two innovative industries initiative and transform Taiwan into a center of biotechnology and medical R&D in Asia.

Hsu Kuo-yung, spokesman of the Executive Yuan, said as the undertaking calls for wide-ranging cooperation among government ministries and agencies, Premier Lin Chuan has directed all related parties to jointly draft an action plan for its implementation.

Overseen by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the plan involves enhancing areas like human resources, finances and intellectual property. A key undertaking is drafting legislation on foreign investment, overseas talent recruitment, tax breaks and easing restrictions on the development and production of experimental medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

Other objectives include establishing a north-south biomedical corridor linking the main campuses of Taiwan’s three science parks in Hsinchu, Taichung and Tainan cities so as to enhance their research capabilities; tapping the international health care market, particularly in countries covered by the New Southbound Policy; and developing precision medicine, specialized clinics and health-related peripheral industries.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/11
By: Chen Chef-fon, Liu Chien-pang and Lilian Wu

Kaohsiung, Nov. 11 (CNA) Kaohsiung, being the first city in Taiwan to register same-sex couples on May 20, on Friday issued the first same-sex partnership card to two young women.

The couple, Yang Ying-fan (陳盈汎) and Wu Yu-ting (吳羽婷) , was elated about getting the card, believing that this will give them more protection legally and that their partner will less likely “run away “now that it’s formally recognized.

Chen Shu-fang (陳淑芳), deputy director of Kaohsiung City’s Civil Affairs Bureau, was on hand to congratulate the two as well as present them with gifts.

Chen noted that it is not very convenient for same-sex couples to carry documents that register their relation.    [FULL  STORY]

FINALIZEDThe Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee review has been retracted and podium prohibitions introduced so lawmakers can resume negotiations

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 12, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao and Abraham Gerber / Staff reporters

Legislative caucuses yesterday reached an agreement on reviewing a proposed amendment to the

Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) that seeks to cut seven national holidays.

After weeks of controversy and rounds of cross-caucus negotiations, the legislature yesterday reached a consensus on the handling of the disputed amendment involving the proposal for workers to have “one flexible rest day and one fixed day off,” and a reduction of national holidays from 19 to 12 to accommodate a 40-hour workweek that cleared the legislature in May last year.

The resolution stated that the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee amendment review on Oct. 5 would be retracted, a report by relevant agencies would be prepared and a question-and-answer session would be held on Monday next week, a public hearing on Wednesday next week and an article-by-article review of the amendment on Thursday next week.

The meetings can be extended to midnight if needed, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 12, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Donald Trump’s election and what it means for regional economies will be key

issues at next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting, Taiwan delegation leader James Soong said Friday.

Although Soong described integrating Taiwan with the other members of the economic forum as his “key mission” at the summit, the potential rise of protectionism and isolationism in U.S. was also likely to be a major topic of discussion.

Regional trade agreements needed to seek “equal distribution” in order to offset social inequality, Soong said during a press conference held at the Executive Yuan.

The People First Party leader believed that merely pursuing overall prosperity without considering unemployment and the rural-urban divide were the main cause of electoral upsets such as Trump and Brexit.    [FULL  STORY]