Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/12
By: Wang Cheng-chung and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Taiwan will raise the issue of migrant workers who fall ill and become too

sick to fly home during bilateral meetings with countries that provide most of the nation’s foreign laborers a senior Ministry of Labor (MOL) official said on Wednesday.

The ministry will propose the establishment of a mechanism to assist such migrants, said Hou Song-ting (侯松廷), a senior inspector at the MOL’s Workforce Development Agency, at a press conference held by Kuomintang Legislator Chen Shei-saint (陳學聖) at the Legislative Yuan.

Hou was responding to Chen’s appeal for such a mechanism, which the lawmaker said is necessary to prevent seriously ill foreign workers in Taiwan from becoming an unwanted burden.

Chen brought up the case of an Indonesian care giver — known only as Sina — who he said came to Taiwan in March 2014 but fell ill eight months later and eventually became paralyzed due to a parenchymal lesion on her spine.     [FULL  STORY]

CONTROVERSY:Chiu Tai-san raised ire by saying the high proportion of motorcycle riders convicted suggested that most drunk drivers ‘were from the lower classes’

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 13, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff Reporter

The prevalence of drunk driving offenses came under the spotlight at the legislature yesterday,

with Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) saying that most of such crimes are committed by repeat offenders, with the issue of such concern that the nation’s prisons are becoming overcrowded.

At a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, Chiu presented a report on the matter and recommended adjustments to correctional facilities.

At the meeting, the other main topic addressed was the abolition of capital punishment.

While discussing the issue with legislators, Chiu said: “The majority of drunk driving convictions are of repeat offenders; the situation is similar with illegal drug users. Their number is so high, prisons have become overcrowded. It is because the current punitive measures have had little deterrent effect on drunk driving offenders.”     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 13, 2016
By: Stephanie Chao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Kuomintang (KMT) official has told the China Post that party Chairwoman

Hung Hsiu-chu will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next month.

In addition, KMT Culture and Communications Committee Chairman (CCC) Deputy Chairman Hu Wen-chi said “it was certain” that a “Hung-Xi” meeting would take place in the Chinese capital.

The pair will meet prior to the “Peace and Development Forum” between the KMT and China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) from Nov. 2-3 in Beijing, according to Hu.

Reports have suggested the meeting will be held on Nov. 1.

Summits between the KMT and the CCP have been held on an irregular basis since 2006 and were previously hosted under the name “The Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum.”

However, others from Taiwan’s main opposition party were more guarded about the prospects of the two party heads meeting.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/11
By: Esme Jiang and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) South Korean smartphone brand Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday that it has stopped exchanges of its latest phablet — the Galaxy Note 7 — for new devices in Taiwan after several of the replacement devices exploded around the world.

Samsung Taiwan said those consumers in Taiwan who still own the original Note 7 or have a replacement models should keep their devices powered off for the moment.

The South Korean vendor said it will soon announce the details about a refund, a replacement of the controversial smartphone model, or an exchange for other Galaxy models in Taiwan, and noted that it is in the process of negotiating refund and exchange policies with its Taiwanese distributors.

The Note 7 exchange in Taiwan kicked off on Sept. 13 as part of Samsung’s global exchange program after several incidents of the newly unveiled model catching fire due to overheating batteries were reported worldwide.     [FULL  STORY]

BAD TASTE:Su Jia-chyuan, who was in charge of the organizing committee, said that no event should ever turn ethnicity into a joke and he would make a formal apology

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 12, 2016
By: Chen Yu-fu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Aborigines yesterday protested against the host of the Double Ten National Day ceremony using a

ridiculous phrase to introduce the nation’s 16 recognized Aboriginal tribes, saying it was demeaning and made Aborigines the butt of a joke.

Host Ho Wei-lun (何偉綸) said “ Shao Tai tai da ka, A sa bu lu ge, bei xia de pao zou la” (邵太太打卡，阿薩不魯哥，被嚇得跑走啦). The term “A sa bu lu ge ” means “ill-behaved” in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).

Aboriginal groups said the incident showed the government was not serious about its commitment to lift the oppression of Aborigines
.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sufin Siluko, who is an Amis, said the act was disrespectful and went against the olive branch President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) extended toward Aborigines when she made a formal apology to them on behalf of the government in August.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-11
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A telecom fraud suspect led a Kaohsiung City police officer up on a roof chase Tuesday.
The Sinsing Precinct of the Kaohsiung City Police Department said it received a report from a retired man surnamed Wong, who said he received a call in which he heard a man crying for help. He believed it was a ransom demand for his son, so he followed the instructions given by another man on the phone and deposited NT$300,000 in cash at a certain location. Wong only later realized the case was a fraud.

The police found the location, but there were no surveillance cameras in the neighborhood.

Police later reviewed video footage of all vehicles passing a nearby intersection as well as footage from nearby stores before identifying a suspect surnamed Chang who lives in Pingtung and has a criminal record for drug offenses.

On Tuesday police officers located the suspect and approached him while revealing their identity. At that moment, Chang burst into a run and climbed up to the red-tiled roof of an old brick house. Police officer Ching Tien-en followed the suspect to the roof to intercept him and succeeded in arresting him.

After police questioning, Chang was referred to prosecutors on suspicion of fraud. The authorities said they were still searching for accomplices in the case.     [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2016-10-10

President Tsai Ing-wen’s national day address on Monday conveyed Taiwan’s hopes for greater interaction with the international community.

In her speech, Tsai said that the people of Taiwan “aspire to peace, pursue democracy, and long to go out into the world and do our part for the international community.”

The president spoke about her first overseas trip since taking office in May of this year, during which she visited diplomatic allies Paraguay and Panama. Tsai spoke about how she had interacted with many regional leaders during that trip, which was focused on the principles of “steadfast diplomacy” and “mutual assistance for mutual benefits”.

President Tsai also spoke about Vice President Chen Chien-jen’s trip to the Dominican Republic and the Holy See. She said the hope is that diplomacy “will not be about one-way giving, but about mutually-beneficial cooperation that we plan and build together with our allies for the good of both.”    [FULL  STORY]