Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/01
By: Wang Shu-fen and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) The weather in northern Taiwan turned wet and cool Tuesday, with temperatures expected to fall to as low as 19 degrees Celsius as the first seasonal northeasterly winds set in, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.

The CWB said the mercury in northern Taiwan dropped noticeably in the morning, when temperatures in low-lying areas fell to as low as 20.2 degrees Celsius in Tamsui, 20.8 degrees in Keelung and 21 degrees in Yilan County and Taipei.

In central and southern Taiwan, temperatures were between 23 degrees and 26 degrees in the early morning hours, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/31
By: Sunrise Huang and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) A Farglory Group subsidiary in New Taipei has been fined

NT$200,000 (US$6,340) for not properly handling a case of female-on-female sexual harassment within the company, and it pledged to strengthen employee training on related regulations.

New Taipei’s Labor Affairs Department fined Farglory Retail Management & Service Co., Ltd. (遠雄流通事業) on Monday after a female employee filed a complaint against the company with both the Labor Affairs and Social Affairs departments.

According to the Labor Affairs Department, the woman said she complained to her superior three times about sexual harassment by a female co-worker who allegedly made unwanted physical contact with her, followed her home and expressed love for her by phone, text messages, e-mail and handwritten notes.    [FULL  STORY]

The Washington Post
Date: October 31, 2016
By: Max Bearak

More than 4 billion people live in Asia. But not one of them lives in a country where

people can get married regardless of their sexual orientation. LGBT rights supporters have long looked to liberal Taiwan to change that, and numerous recent developments signal that the country may step up.

On Saturday, more than 80,000 people took to the streets of Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, as part of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride parade, according to numbers provided by organizers. Attendees described the event as charged with an unprecedented atmosphere of hope.

In October, lawmakers from Taiwan’s new ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party, introduced a bill that would eliminate gender from the national constitution’s definition of marriage, opening it to any two people. Taiwan’s new president, Tsai Ing-wen, has vocally supported marriage equality in the past, and recent polls show that almost three-quarters of the Taiwanese people favor marriage equality.    [FULL  STORY]

Fox News
Date: October 31, 2016
By: Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Having taken up the cause of a fellow Taiwanese held by Somali

pirates, former legislator Tsai Cheng-yuan faced one hurdle after another.

Government agencies at home and in three foreign capitals snubbed his pleas for help. Nervous donors who provided funds for a ransom demanded a money-back guarantee if the hostage wasn’t released.

Even after the money was paid, the man refused to return home unless 25 others held with him were also freed. The group was finally released Oct. 22, after more than four and a half years — the second-longest period hostages had ever spent in Somalia.

“I just have this faith that if a country doesn’t give up on its citizens in trouble, it will be loved by its people,” said Tsai, 62, who served in Taiwan’s legislature for 20 years and now runs the chief opposition Nationalist Party’s central policy committee.    [FULL

  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 01, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The Taipei District Court yesterday ordered former prosecutor-general Huang Shih-

ming (黃世銘) to pay NT$300,000 (US$9,500) in compensation to prosecutor Lin Hsiu-tao (林秀濤) and NT$620,000 to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) over illegal wiretaps and leaks of private information.

Lin, a former prosecutor at the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office, sued Huang, Special Investigation Division prosecutors Yang Jung-tsung (楊榮宗) and Cheng Shen-yuan (鄭深元), and Taipei District Court Judge Chou Chan-chun (周占春) over the wiretapping of her and her daughter’s telephones in 2013, demanding NT$2.21 million in compensation and an apology to be issued in a newspaper.

The court ruled that Huang should pay NT$300,000 for the wiretapping, but rejected charges against the other three defendants. The ruling can be appealed.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 1, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu and her delegation visited the mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen Monday in Nanjing, where she spoke of the Republic of China while paying respects to the nation’s founding father.

After paying her respects, Hung gave brief remarks at the adjoining Boai Square, where she recalled Sun’s trials and eventual success in “overthrowing the Qing Dynasty in order to found the Republic of China.”

“As a senior member of the KMT leading a delegation of its leaders, I feel embarrassed that we have failed Dr. Sun,” she said after viewing Sun’s coffin and placing a wreath at the memorial, referring to the party’s electoral setback in 2016 that placed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) firmly in power in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

‘The need for improved communications is an important but also sensitive topic.’ In a rare move from the diplomatic community in Taipei, Germany’s representative in Taiwan speaks out about a muddled policy platform and lack of communication. Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs responds.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/30
By: David Green

Last week, DDG focused on Industry 4.0 and smart machinery to suggest that Taiwanese companies must learn to value communication. But what about communication between governments, industry and other important stakeholders? In a special report for The News Lens International, DDG sat down with German Trade Office Executive Director Andreas Hergenröther to discuss the reasons behind cooperation between Germany and Taiwan in the area of Industry 4.0, and what Taiwan might be able to learn about the development of the sector from a global leader such as Germany.

DDG: At what point did Germany and Taiwan begin their cooperation in the field of Industry 4.0, and which side first took the initiative?    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/10/31
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Every year, the Halloween costume competitions just keep getting bigger and better. Kids dress up as their favorite or popular characters every year, putting their moms under tremendous pressure.

A Halloween costume contest took place in New Taipei on Saturday, where a child dressed up as a “human meat cart” butchered the competition, and the outfit soon went viral on the internet.

The human meat cart featured chopped body parts as well as eyes, bones, and a boy’s head, served by a ghost dressed by the boy’s sister.

Top three places of the costume contest

Another two-year-girl dressed up as No-Face (Kaonashi) from the Japanese anime film Spirited Away also found herself shared across the internet, while other girls in the kindergarten mostly dressed as princess.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/31
By: Claudia Liu and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) Taiwan is not opposed to dialogue between the Vatican and China based on human rights and religious freedom, the Presidential Office said Monday, amid reports that the two have taken a major step toward ending their six-decade estrangement.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the Vatican and China have reached a consensus on the appointment of cardinals, heralding better relations between the two sides.

The Vatican currently has diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) rather than Beijing and is Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Europe and one of only 22 allies around the world.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 31, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A dog wears a Halloween costume in Taipei on Sunday, Oct. 30. A costume party was held yesterday in Neihu’s Dahu Park, with locals dressing up their best friends to observe Halloween. Activities were held during the gathering, including a race for dogs with a leg length of 15 centimeters or less. The event saw breeds including dachshunds, Chihuahuas and Welsh Corgis dashing for the title.   [FULL  STORY]