NATIONALISM:Asked about his stance on the ROC, grand justice nominee Hwang Jau-yuan said that expressions of patriotism in a democracy should not be forced

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 21, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Grand justice nominee Hwang Jau-yuan (黃昭元) yesterday said he would accept renomination as

grand justice or Judicial Yuan president after his term ends, while asserting that no one should be forced to subscribe to a uniform national identification.

During the last legislative review of the grand justice nominees, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) said that the 54-year-old Hwang, the youngest among grand justice nominees, might be renominated as grand justice or Judicial Yuan president.

Wu asked whether Hwang would accept reappointment in light of the controversy over the nomination of former grand justice Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) as Judicial Yuan president, as the law stipulates that grand justices cannot serve consecutive terms, but does not specify if they can serve a second term.

“I will accept [a renomination], precisely because there are too many unnecessary debates about [grand justice] reappointment. I would not refuse [renomination] under such pressure,” Hwang said.    [FULL  STORY]

The Taipei City Government denies reports of a massive leak of school children’s personal information.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/19
By: Olivia Yang

A new news website in Taiwan is accusing Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of leaking the personal

information of more than 350,000 elementary and middle school students to Google, claims that the Taipei City Government categorically denies.

Mirror Media (鏡傳媒), officially launched earlier this month, published an article today alleging that the city’s Department of Education signed a contract with Google in June for its Google Apps for Education (GAFE) service, providing the 350,000 students with email accounts and cloud drives with unlimited storage space, as well as various learning apps and platforms.

Mirror Media reports that the contract was signed due to lack of storage space on “Taipei CooC-Cloud,” an online database launched by the Taipei City Government that contains learning materials and e-books for school students.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/19
By: Huang Li-yun and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Taiwan’s electricity supply was tight on Wednesday, with state-run utility Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) warning of possible power rationing as reserve capacity fell below a key threshold.

The power company estimated it would have an operating reserve margin of only 2.38 percent during peak periods of power usage and that its operating reserve — the amount of power available beyond peak usage — had fallen below 900 megawatts, automatically triggering the warning.

The alert came amid a surge in hot weather that pushed the mercury to an unseasonably warm 30 degrees Celsius around Taiwan.

Cheng Yu-tsai (鄭有財), the Taipower official in charge of power distribution, said peak electricity consumption reached about 3,240 MWs during the period between 11 a.m. and noon, while the maximum power supply capacity was an estimated 3,322.9 MWs for the day.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-18
By: Wendy Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) announced Tuesday that it will schedule extra trains during the three-day weekend holiday on Chiang Kai-shek’s birthday, which falls on October 31st, in order to cater to the large number of travelers expected during the public holiday.

It was recently confirmed that workers in Taiwan will get the extra day off due to the proposed legislation for a five-day workweek remains to be reviewed.

A total of 81 additional train services on top of the original schedules will be operating from October 29th to 31st, with Tze-Chiang Limited Express adding 37 more services, Chu-Kuang Express 10, and Fu-Hsing Semi Express 3 on the eastern line, the railway company said.

On the western line, Tze-Chiang Limited Express will be adding 24 more services, Chu-Kuang Express 3, and Fu-Hsing Semi Express 2, and the Southern-link Line will see Chu-Kuang Express and Fu-Hsing Semi Express each adding 1 more train services for the long weekend.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/18
By: Wang Cheng-chung and Bear Lee

Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) Chairman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) of the opposition Kuomintang will not mention

her previous advocacy of “one China, common interpretation” when she visits Beijing to attend a cross-Taiwan Strait forum next month, according to Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟), chief of the party’s legislative caucus.

Liao made the remark after he and 25 other KMT lawmakers met Hung earlier in the day.

Hung, during the 2-hour meeting, said that since the January presidential election, she has never mentioned again the “one China, common interpretation” idea about cross-strait relations.

Hung’s advocacy has been widely regarded as an obvious deviation from the “one China, different interpretations” proposal by former President and KMT Chiarman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in defining the “1992 consensus.”     [FULL  STORY]

SPYMASTER:Prosecutors said Lin and Pien were recruited by China after they retired, passing on sensitive materials to the Chinese officer in charge of espionage in Taiwan

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 19, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Judges yesterday approved a request by the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office to detain

incommunicado a retired lieutenant colonel who worked at the Ministry of National Defense’s secretive Communication Development Office, one of four former military officers under investigation for espionage.

Investigators on Monday raided a number of offices and residences in New Taipei City and took two retired lieutenant colonels, surnamed Lin (林) and Pien (邊), in for questioning as suspects.

The prosecutors said Lin and Pien, who worked in highly sensitive military offices, were recruited by Chinese agents, adding that both were found to have contact with China after their retirement.

New Taipei City Deputy Chief Prosecutor Chou Huai-lien (周懷廉) said Lin worked at the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Systems Manufacturing Center, while Pien worked at the Communication Development Office, which is tasked with surveillance of China’s military activities, including monitoring of telecommunications signals.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Taipei Public Library (TPL) announced on Monday that it is working with the three major convenience store chains—7-ELEVEN, FamilyMart, and Hi-Life—to launch the “Convenience Store Book Loan” program and to realize the idea that “the convenience stores are my libraries.”

The move is a tremendous upgrade of the unprecedented service launched in February 2015 to allow “Convenience Store Book Return” in collaboration with FamilyMart, the TPL said in a statement.

The number of the service providing convenience stores is increased from the original 74 across Taiwan to nearly 10,000 and the service time is extended to 24-7 all year round, according to the statement.

Patrons can make reservations of the items they wish to borrow utilizing TPL’s online catalog and select their preferred convenience store as the pick-up location. Each request can deliver up to five articles with a shipping fee of NT$50, which is lower than regular shipping fees charged by post offices, shipping companies or online vendors, the TPL said.     [FULL  STORY]