DEAD END:China has granted favorable measures to the counties and cities led by the delegation, so their municipal budgets should be slashed, a TSU department director said

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 23, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) members yesterday protested in front of the Chinese Nationalist Party

(KMT) headquarters in Taipei against a trip to Beijing by a pan-blue delegation, while KMT members staged a counter-protest.

A delegation of six KMT and two independent officials on Sunday met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Yu Zhengsheng (俞正聲) and Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) in Beijing.

They discussed tourism policy and trade in agricultural products — and the visitors and their hosts reaffirmed the so-called “1992 consensus,” which refers to a supposed understanding reached during talks in 1992 that Taiwan and China acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what that means.

Former KMT lawmaker Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 said that he had made up the term in 2000 when he was head of the Mainland Affairs Council.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 23, 2016
By: Stephanie Chao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Tsai Ing-wen outlined expectations to see the number of South and

Southeast Asian students in Taiwan reach around 60,000 by 2019, as she discussed her “New Southbound Policy” with scholars and foreign representatives on Thursday.

Reiterating the “people-centric” agenda of her “New Southbound Policy,” Tsai vowed not only to seek a 20-percent increase in the number of Southeast Asian and South Asian students in Taiwan — to approximately 60,000 — but also to help them find jobs “so they can further sharpen their skills.”

Her pledge came during her opening remarks at the 18th Annual Conference on Southeast Asian Studies at National Chengchi University. Former Thailand Foreign Minister and Ambassador Kasit Piromya, AIT Director Kin Moy and President Edward Chow (周行一) of National Chengchi University were in attendance.

“No policy can succeed unless there are people who are equipped to carry it out,” Tsai said, promising to promote policies and programs that expand the flow of talent between Taiwan and the rest of Asia.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date; 2016-09-21
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Three police officers at the Zhongli Precinct of the Taoyuan Police Department on Wednesday were accused of asking for a bribe from a sex service operator after they caught women engaging in prostitution during a crackdown on the sex trade.

The three officers, surnamed Lee, Hung and Lin, tracked down women engaging in prostitution during a crackdown on the sex trade in September. Through the women and an agent surnamed Wang, the officers tracked down the sex service operator, surnamed Lin, from whom the officer allegedly asked for a bribe. Lin reported to authorities that the police officers asked for NT$60,000. The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office has begun to investigate the case.

All the three officers denied any wrongdoing. After law enforcement officers arrested Wang, prosecutors were asking permission to detain the officers for alleged breach of their official duties and violation of bribery of national public officials and for the possibility that they might collude with each other.     [FULL  STORY]

TRANSPARENCY:The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee is to relaunch a Web site with the results of a Chen administration investigation into illegal assets

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 22, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee yesterday said it froze a bank account of the

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the issuance of 10 checks worth a collective NT$520 million (US$16.54 million) immediately after a law was promulgated prohibiting political parties from disposing of assets presumed to have been obtained illegally.

Following the implementation on Aug. 10 of the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例), the KMT on Aug. 11 withdrew NT$520 million from Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行) and asked Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) to issue 10 checks worth NT$52 million each, reportedly to pay for party expenses and employees’ salaries, committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) said.

One check was cashed on Aug. 30, and funds were transferred to about 200 accounts, which might constitute a violation of the act, because the money is presumed to have been gained through illegal means and cannot be disposed of, Shih said.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 22, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The defense minister on Wednesday made public more details about the “weekend

warrior” program, which the military plans to introduce next year to boost the nation’s combat readiness.

Speaking during the Legislature’s question-and-answer session in Taipei, Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) said his ministry is in the process of designing a short-term voluntary service program for reservists to sharpen their combat readiness.

Feng told lawmakers that the “weekend warrior” program is designed to encourage freshly retired reservists to return to their original military units on weekends to maintain their combat skills. The program will officially launch next year.

“We are targeting those with special expertise and skills to join the voluntary program,” Feng added.

According to the ministry’s draft proposal, the ministry is eyeing relatively new reservists who were discharged from the military within the previous eight years.     [FULL  STORY]

PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE:KMT and DPP councilors took turns criticizing Ko for his actions in connection with several contracts as well as the loss of an agency head

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

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday came under fire at the Taipei City Council over several

potential compensation payments as well as the resignation of Taipei Department of Legal Affairs Commissioner Yang Fang-ling (楊芳玲).

He also received several “gifts” from his critics.

Ko was scheduled to deliver a policy address to the council, the second day of its current session, but several councilors had signed up to speak before him.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Wu Shih-cheng (吳世正) panned Ko over what he called “a clandestine deal” with Radium Life Tech Co to cover the dissolution of the company’s contract to lease superficies at the MRT Nangang Depot.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 21, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

The Coast Guard Administration said Tuesday it had asked Google to blur imagery of unidentified

Taiping Island military structures viewable on its Earth and Maps services.

The satellite photo shows four giant tetrapod-shaped structures on the northwestern shoreline of the island, which is controlled by Taiwan but claimed by several countries.

CGA Minister Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) said in a legislative session Tuesday that the function of the structures was classified military information and could not be disclosed.

The administration had already contacted Google and requested that the imagery be blurred, Lee said.

The structures could still be seen on Google Maps as of press time.     [FULL  STORY]