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Officials hit supermarket aisles in price probe

The China Post
Date: October 22, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — With the aim of curbing rising fruit and vegetable prices, officials from the Executive

A government official checks food labels in a supermarket on Friday, Oct. 21. The government has started a task force to ensure fruit and vegetable prices stay stable. Rising food prices in the wake of typhoons and torrential rains have drawn wide public concern. (CNA)

A government official checks food labels in a supermarket on Friday, Oct. 21. The government has started a task force to ensure fruit and vegetable prices stay stable. Rising food prices in the wake of typhoons and torrential rains have drawn wide public concern. (CNA)

Yuan paid visits to multiple supermarkets and traditional markets on Friday to check on food prices.

The Consumer Protection Committee yesterday sent its officers to several supermarkets and traditional markets in Taipei.

The government action comes at a time when consumers are growing impatient with vegetable prices still high, despite typhoon-related torrential weather ending two weeks ago.

Consumer Protection Committee officer Wang De-ming (王德明) said food prices should peak this week and are expected to come down next week.

The Fair Trade Commission and the Council of the Agriculture have also been tasked by the central government with stabilizing local food prices.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Council of Indigenous Peoples Pulls Out of Hangzhou Cultural Expo

The organizers removed signage from the Council of Indigenous Peoples’ booth due to disagreement over using the term ‘indigenous peoples.’

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/21
By: ZiQing Low

Taiwan’s Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) yesterday withdrew from the 2016 Hangzhou Cultural and

Photo Credit: Council of Indigenous Peoples

Photo Credit: Council of Indigenous Peoples

Creative Industry Expo after the CIP’s full name was removed from their exhibit at the expo.

The CIP, along with 10 indigenous cultural industry groups, had planned to attend the expo from Oct. 20-24.

In a press statement released on their website yesterday, the CIP said that the General Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of China conveyed a request from the organizing committee of the expo on Oct. 14 that the CIP change “indigenous peoples” to “minorities” on all their exhibit material.

“We will not allow the usage of ‘indigenous peoples’ regardless of which organization,” the CIP was told.

Despite ongoing negotiations to keep the title with “indigenous peoples,” the organizing committee in China removed the CIP’s sign from their “Ayoi Indigenous Peoples Cultural Booth.”

“To protect the dignity of Taiwan and its indigenous community, representatives from the council will hand in a letter of protest to the organizers of the expo and withdraw our participation,” the CIP said in a statement.    [FULL  STORY]

Cabinet to set up 18 Southward Policy platforms

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-21
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The government will set up separate platforms for each of the 18 countries 6774821targeted by its “New Southward Policy” and draw up Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for each of them, reports said Friday.

The policy was one of the key elements of President Tsai Ing-wen’s election platform, and has been widely seen as a way of weaning Taiwan’s economy away from its overdependence on rival China.

At a meeting on the subject Friday, Economics Minister Lee Chih-kung reportedly proposed to establish platforms per country to help businesses and investors with their questions regarding those countries. Each country would also form the subject of regular risk assessments, the Cabinet spokesman said.

The “New Southward Policy” targets the ten member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia, New Zealand, and six nations in South Asia, namely, India, Pakistan, Bangla Desh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.     [FULL  STORY]

Amendment scrapping stay requirement for migrant workers passes

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/21
By: Wang Cheng-chung and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) Migrant workers in Taiwan can be re-hired without having to leave the country every

Foreign workers calling for passage of the amendment, CNA file photo

Foreign workers calling for passage of the amendment, CNA file photo

three years, according to an amendment to the Employment Service Act that cleared the Legislative Yuan Friday.

The amendment removed a provision that required migrant workers who have worked in Taiwan for three years –the longest contract allowed — to leave the country for at least one day if they want to be re-hired.

It will take effect as soon as it is publicly posted by the Presidential Office, a formality that usually takes fewer than three weeks.

The measure will help migrant workers save between NT$75,000 and NT$180,000 in brokerage and other fees, ruling Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Yu-chin (吳玉琴) said.

As of the end of July, 603,109 foreigners were employed as construction workers, factory workers, domestic helpers or in other manual jobs in Taiwan, data from the Ministry of Labor showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Five Taiwan cities and counties named among 2017 Smart21 Communities

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-20
By: Wendy Lee , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Four cities and one county in Taiwan – Chiayi, Keelung, Tainan, Taoyuan Cities as well as Yilan County

Tainan City at night.

Tainan City at night.

were named among the “Smart21 Communities” of 2017 by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), standing out as the best performer in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Intelligent Community Forum in New York on Wednesday named its Smart21 Communities of 2017 among 140 communities worldwide as semi-finalists for the Intelligence Community of the Year Award, which the ICF will in February select from this group its Top7 as the finalists for the annual award, and in June announce the final winner in New York.

The award program salutes “the accomplishments of communities in developing inclusive prosperity on a foundation of information and communications technology,” the ICF website said, using six intelligent indicators including broadband, knowledge workforce, innovation, digital equity, sustainability and advocacy.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan pushes law amendment to liberalize green energy sector

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/20
By: Tai Ya-chen and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) Taiwan will push for the development of green energy and prepare for the 26033502transformation of the state-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) under a draft amendment to the Electricity Act that passed the Executive Yuan on Thursday.

Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said that in the first of the two-phased law amendment, the government will deal with the liberalization of green energy.

The premier said the development of renewable and green energy is a major campaign platform of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), and the amendment to the Electricity Act can no longer be delayed.

He said liberalizing the sector was necessary because Taipower, which now serves as a player and a referee, cannot possibly allow green energy to develop rapidly.    [FULL  STORY]

Accountability in 228 Incident still lacking: Ko

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 21, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Society has not done enough to hold the perpetrators of the 228 Massacre responsible for their

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, second right, attends the launch of the 228 Incident and International Human Rights Exhibition in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, second right, attends the launch of the 228 Incident and International Human Rights Exhibition in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

behavior, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday during his speech at the launch of the 228 Incident and International Human Rights Exhibition in Taipei, urging perpetrators to demonstrate restraint to avoid deepening the agony they have caused to families of the victims.

Referring to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime before its defeat in the Chinese Civil War as “China” throughout his speech, Ko said Taiwanese were jubilant when it was announced that they were to reunite with “China” after World War II.

However, because of the rampant corruption among Republic of China officials and a lack of discipline among the troops dispatched to Taiwan, the public was disillusioned, which gave rise to a string of conflicts between the masses and the government, Ko said, adding that this was the historical context of the 228 Massacre.

Ko said that a conundrum facing the 228 Incident and all efforts to promote transitional justice is that all the attention has been focused on to the victims, while the victimizers remain hidden.    [FULL  STORY]

Positive Signs for Same-Sex Marriage in Taiwan with Support from Top Judges

Same-sex marriage activists in Taiwan are upbeat after three of five nominees for Taiwan’s constitutional court confirmed their support for marriage equality.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/20
By: Mo Tz-pin

In response to questions from legislators yesterday, Grand Justice nominee Chan San-lin (詹森林) said

Photo Credit: AP/達志影像

Photo Credit: AP/達志影像

he supports marriage equality and vowed to defend sexual orientation for every person, the Chinese-language Liberty Times reports.

Chan is one of five nominees for the Council of Grand Justice currently under review. He is one of three nominees to have confirmed support for same-sex marriage, joining Huang Juei-min (黃瑞明) and Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄). In June 2015, the four nominees at the time, who have since been appointed, did not support same-sex marriage.

President of Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights Victoria Hsu (許秀雯) says she believes it is possible that the remaining two nominees could also be in favor for marriage equality, potentially paving the way for improved rights for the LGBT community in Taiwan.
“The Grand Justices are in charge of constitutional interpretations, which could help us a lot to fight for same-sex couples whose rights are not protected,” Hsu told The News Lens International by telephone today.
Hsu says the Grand Justices in 2015 mostly opposed same-sex marriage. Last year, the alliance applied to the court for a constitutional interpretation on a case related to same-sex marriage, but the process has been “very slow.”     [FULL  STIORY]

News Mirror: Chu Ke-liang battles spreading cancer

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-20
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

According to the latest issue of the News Mirror Weekly, Taiwanese well-known actor, comedian and 6774790TV show host Chu Ke-liang is battling other cancers as the bowel cancer cells in his body have spread to other area of the body.

Chu had been diagnosed as having stage II colon cancer in May, 2014, but he refused to have a surgery because he knew after the treatment he would need to have a colostomy and an attached colostomy bag and he thought it would be inconvenient during work. So he opted to receive traditional Chinese medical treatment while he was busy with his TV and acting work.

However, he fell very ill and decided to have a surgery to treat his colon cancer at the National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital on September 6. The operation was announced as a success.

On Oct. 11, Chu held a press conference to thank Dr. Liang Jin-tung and his team for treating him and saving his life in September.    [FULL  STORY]

Kinmen clamps down on illegal Chinese boats

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/20
By: Amy Huang and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) Coast Guard officers from Taiwan’s outlying island group Kinmen have 201610200020t0001conducted raids on Chinese boats crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait in waters between Kinmen and mainland China, seizing 10 Chinese ships since October.

The Coast Guard Administration said it began the crackdown after it checked sea and radar data and found that Chinese ships have been sailing near the median line frequently in recent days.

In one incident, they found a Chinese fishing boat operating at 0.2 nautical miles off Fuhsing islet Wednesday night and sent cutters to seize the boat and took four crewmen aboard the vessel back to Kinmen. The captain of the ship is surnamed Guo and is a 26-year-old man from Fujian province.

The coast guard said that they will rigorously clamp down on Chinese fishing ships crossing the median line and impose steep fines to protect the fishery resources of Kinmen.    [FULL  STORY]