Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/21
By: Stanley Cheung and Christie Chen

Hong Kong, June 21 (CNA) Louise Arbour, a former United Nations High Commissioner for

Human Rights who was named the winner of the 2016 Tang Prize in rule of law Tuesday, said she hopes that the prize will inspire young lawyers to recognize the importance of their profession.

The Tang Prize is awarded to Arbour “for her enduring contributions to international criminal justice and the protection of human rights, to promoting peace, justice and security at home and abroad, and to working within the law to expand the frontiers of freedom for all,” according to the Tang Prize citation.

Speaking to a CNA reporter in Hong Kong, the Canadian lawyer said she is “very surprised, very humbled” to have won the award.

“It’s a very inspired gesture of philanthropy. To receive this kind of recognition in the field of rule of law, for me, is the highest possible recognition for my work,” Arbour said.     [FULL  STORY]

Five members of the armed forces have committed suicide in the past two months, prompting calls for a thorough review of assistance programs in the military.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/06/20
By: Shuhei Omi

The June 12 suicide by a female major in the Taiwanse armed forces has prompted the Ministry

of National defense to established a taskforce to investigate the incident.

The ministry initially said that the recent death of the woman’s grandmother may have destabilized the mental state of the young woman, surnamed Tsai (蔡). However it changed its stance after reviewing the incident and subsequently stated that work-related stress was the likely reason behind the suicide, the Chinese-language Liberty Times reported.

Lieutenant-General Liu De-jin (劉得金), director of electronic communications development and Tsai’s commanding officer, said that after Tsai sought help, she was transferred from research to an administrative section. He did not realize that the work, which she had no experience in, may have increased her stress levels.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-20
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

OhBear, Director of the Tourism Bureau’s Super Task Force, popped up at the 2016 Fulong International Sand Sculpture Arts Festival on Monday (June 20) much to the delight of the visitors.

OhBear immediately became a pleasant surprise as some of the visitors were given souvenirs after checking in Facebook with a photo taken with OhBear at the festival entrance and leaving the message “2016 Fulong Sand Sculpture very good!”

This year’s festival takes place from May 7 to July 10 on the three kilometer-long golden beach between Yanliao and Fulong in the Northeast Coast. Visitors can take a Taiwan Railway train, get off at Fulong, and walk for five minutes to the site by following signs along the roads.

Visitors who drive can park their cars at the adjacent parking lots of the Yanliao Beach Park, Longmen Sports Park, Longmen Camping Site, and Fulong Visitor Center, and take one of the free hourly shuttle buses running on weekends to the venue.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 21, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has a higher public satisfaction rating than her Cabinet,

according to two separate surveys released yesterday and last week.

The Taiwan Generation Think Tank said its latest survey, released yesterday, indicates that 60.1 percent of the respondents are satisfied with Tsai’s performance in the month since her inauguration, while 24.5 percent are not.

Asked if they are confident in Tsai’s administration, 65.4 percent of those surveyed said yes, while 24.5 percent said no.

On a series of questions about whether Tsai has implemented any of the promises and platforms she presented during the election campaign, 53.3 percent of respondents said Tsai’s cross-strait policy has met her ideas on cross-strait relations, while 25.5 percent disagreed.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date June 21, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Executive Yuan is set to announce the restoration of previously cancelled public holidays Tuesday (see table), a victory for workers after labor groups protested their initial removal by the Ma administration.

The restoration follows moves by the previous administration to reduce the number of statutory holidays from 19 to 12 after the implementation of the 40-hour work week.

The previous government defended the move, arguing that the new 40-hour work week would give laborers an additional six days off annually, even with the loss of seven statutory holidays. Labor groups angrily stated that the move violated the Labor Standards Act, and staged scattered protests outside leading political parties, relevant ministries and the legislature.

Two of the holidays that were “restored,” Jan. 2 (Commemorating the Founding of the R.O.C.) and March 29 (Martyrs’ Day), will not be made up, however, as they have already passed. Protesters on Monday rallied in front of the Ministry of Labor (MOL) to demand the two holidays be made up, leading to minor scuffles with police stationed outside the building.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus aiwan
Date: 2016/06/20
By: S.C. Chang

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) Professor William Theodore de Bary, whose calls for dialogue among

different civilizations are vastly different from Samuel Huntington’s study on clashes of civilizations, has been awarded the 2016 Tang Prize in Sinology Monday.

“In his remarkable academic career spanning over seven decades, he has written and edited over 30 books with many of them making ground-breaking contributions that provide both enlightening insight and honest critique into Confucianism,” according to the Tang Prize citation.

The Tang Prize Selection Committee touted the laureate as “a rare exemplar of a scholar known not only for his monumental scholarship and leadership in the field of Confucianism, but also for his unflagging dedication to renewing and realizing a great civilized conversation to iron out differences and foster mutual understanding between the East and the West.”

De Bary, 96, will receive a cash prize of NT$40 million (US$1.23 million) and a research grant of up to NT$10 million to be used within five years, as well as a medal and a certificate.     [FULL  STORY]

Eye On Taiwan
Date: July 20, 2016
Translated By: Erixon Chen

2016 Taiwan International Balloon Festiva(台灣國際熱氣球嘉年華) is going to open in Luye Gaotai(鹿野高台) Taitung County. Taitung county governemnt has already planning for a shuttle bus and increased the unmber of trains to reduce the traffic in the area.

According to Taitung county govenment, Taiwan railroad company will serve one more local train from Taitung(臺東) to GuanShan(關山), from Monday to Friday. Visitors can also use the shuttle bus to Luye Gaotai. The event venue has a taxi-pool connected to downtown Taitung, GuanShan and the ChihShang(池上) area. In addition, a lightscribe concert will be held on July 2nd. . The sponsor is going to provide traffic control, and will guide the drivers to park their cars in certain parking areas. Visitors who aren’t going to drive can take a bus at the Taitung forwarding station(台東轉運站) or take a shuttle bus at Luye station(鹿野車站) to the event venue.

The China Post
Date: June 20, 2016
By: CNA

JAKARTA — Several Taiwanese technicians in Jakarta to help build a tunnel for the city’s mass rapid transit (MRT) line celebrated the tunnel’s recent breakthrough by posing for photos with a

flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan) at the job site.

Kuo Shih-hung, one of the Taiwanese who took part in the work, said in an interview with CNA this past week that the Taiwanese engineers were hired by the line’s Japanese contractor to help with the tunnel, part of the first phase of the MRT project.

The Japanese contractor, Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., recruited the Taiwanese engineers because Indonesian workers lacked the skills and expertise needed to operate the tunnel boring machine used to drill underground tunnels for the planned metro line.

The more than 10 technicians involved, including Kuo, who had experience with similar shield tunneling techniques in building the Taipei and Kaohsiung subway systems, have been in Jakarta for six months.

They were happy to see the tunnel they were working on finally drilled through this past week, Kuo said, and he and fellow Taiwanese and Indonesian workers posed for photos with their national flags to celebrate the occasion.     [FULL  STORY]

TAKING THE BLAME:Hung Chia-wen had told Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je that he would quit after an investigation, regardless of whether it found him personally responsible

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 20, 2016
By: Liang Pei-chi and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taipei Department of Sports Commissioner Hung Chia-wen (洪嘉文) yesterday confirmed that he

verbally tendered his resignation to Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) last week over a recent case involving parking lots, in which a department contractor reportedly owes the city government NT$29 million (US$895,476) in premiums.

Hung’s resignation is likely to complicate the city government’s preparations for next year’s Summer Universiade, an international athletic event that is widely perceived to be a public test of Ko’s competence.
The city government is scheduled to decide today on whether to approve Hung’s resignation.

In a news conference on May 30, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平) said Chunsheng Development and Industry Co (群晟開發實業), which operates the department’s parking lots near the Taipei Gymnasium and Taipei Municipal Gymnasium, had not paid its monthly NT$3 million premiums since January last year.

Despite a total of NT$29 million in arrears, Chunsheng was again awarded city contracts in January this year, Chung said.     [FULL  STORY]