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Gao Xingjian Calling for a New Renaissance or Running Out of Inspiration?

Why you need to know: The Chinese-born winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature seems to want to make a splash in the painting world, but is his latest exhibition in Taipei boosting his image?

The News Lens
Date: 2016/06/09
By: Olivia Yang

The solo exhibition of Gao Xingjian (高行健), the first-Chinese born author to be awarded the Nobel IMG_6519Prize for Literature, opened in Taipei on June 8.

“Calling for a New Renaissance” (呼喚文藝復興) showcases Gao’s work as an author, playwright, painter, photographer, film and stage director, highlighting a new series of Chinese ink paintings, along with three films and other works.

Held at the Asia Art Center, the exhibition is said to be the most comprehensive exhibition of the 76-year-old author’s work in Taiwan to date.

A panel discussion was part of the packed opening reception, with Gao, National Taiwan University professor Hu Yao-heng (胡耀恆) and National Taiwan University of Arts president Chen Chih-cheng (陳志誠) as the main speakers.     [FULL  STORY]

Jeffrey Koo, Jr. released on a NT$100 million bail

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-09
By: Central News Agency

Jeffrey Koo, Jr., a major shareholder of CTBC Financial Holding, was released early Thursday on a 6760423NT$100 million (US$3.11 million) bail after being questioned overnight by prosecutors over allegedly illegal transactions.

He faces charges of violation against the Banking Act and the Securities and Exchange Act and is banned from traveling out of Taiwan pending further investigations.

Talking briefly to waiting reporters, Koo said there was a “misunderstanding” and he did not know why he was questioned for so long.

Gobo Group Chairman Chu Kuo-rung, another key figure in the case, was still being questioned by prosecutors working for the the Special Investigation Division (SID), a unit of the Supreme Prosecutor Office that handles cases of major corruption and economic crimes.     [FULL  STORY]

NIA investigates suspicious loss of passports linked to forgery

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/09
By: Chiu Chun-chin and Kay Liu

Taipei, June 9 (CNA) The National Immigration Agency (NIA) sent a case of alleged illegal

(Photo courtesy of the NIA)

(Photo courtesy of the NIA)

transactions of passports to prosecutors Wednesday, after concluding a fake passport investigation.

The NIA said it has been notified by the Bureau of Consular Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about several fake Taiwanese passports since October 2014 that have been linked to police reports of missing passports in southern Taiwan.

Users of fake Taiwanese passports modified from authentic ones have been caught in several countries, including France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Panama, Peru, Australia, Thailand and China, the NIA said.

The NIA investigation found that some of the bona fide holders to whom the authentic passports had originally been issued had reported their travel documents missing twice in a single month.     [FULL  STORY]

CTBC Financial Holding under investigation

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-08
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Prosecutors searched the headquarters of CTBC Financial Holding Co., Ltd. 6760294Wednesday as part of an investigation into three cases, including the overseas move of its funds into reportedly private accounts.

CTBC is one of Taiwan’s most powerful financial groups, founded by the influential Koo family. The company issued a statement denying any violations.

More than 400 investigators on Wednesday reportedly raided as many as 58 homes and offices, including the headquarters of several companies, and were reportedly questioning 94 suspects and witnesses, including Jeffrey Koo, Jr., the son of CTBC’s founder, as well as Lee Wen-tsao, who founded Chong Hong Construction Co., Ltd. in 1975, and Gobo Group President Chu Guo-rong.

At the base of the investigation was the sale of a plot of land in Taipei City’s Neihu District by Chong Hong to CTBC for NT$5.14 billion (US$159.6 million) with the construction of an office block which could house its IT operations as the latter’s intention.     [FULL  STORY]

Woman arrested in alleged scam to defraud rich Singaporean man

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/08
By: Liao Jen-kai and Y.F. Low

Taipei, June 8 (CNA) A Taiwanese woman who married a wealthy, critically ill Singaporean 201606080031t0001businessman allegedly with the sole purpose of inheriting his fortune has been arrested on suspicion of fraud, police said Wednesday.

Huang Kuan-chen (黃冠臻), 55, was arrested Tuesday and has been referred to prosecutors for further investigation, police said.

According to the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), Huang first became acquainted with Pua Ching Kiong (潘振強), the owner of the Singapore-based pharmaceutical company Pua Loong Trading & Co., at a religious event 30 years ago and encountered him again in 2014.

When Huang learned that Pua was single and was worth over NT$100 million, she and a 64-year-old friend Liu Wen-pin (劉文斌), tried to persuade Pua to move to Taiwan, the CIB said.     [FULL  STORY]

Ban on Chinese students coming to study in Taiwan feared true

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-08
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Several legislators on Wednesday expressed concern about the rumor that China had put a ban against its students coming to Taiwan to study.

They were worried that if the ban is true, Taiwan’s colleges and universities will not have a collective annual income of NT$3.4 billion, which can hasten the closures of some financially stricken private schools.

In response to their concern, Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao said that the places where the ban is rumored by the media to have been in force are not the primary sources of Chinese students, and the category of the ban is on “short-term students” instead of “degree-seeking students.”

However, Lin said the Ministry of Education (MOE) would check with its Chinese counterpart to find out if the rumored ban is true or not.     [FULL  STORY]

Most Taiwanese in favor of safeguarding cross-strait peace: poll

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/08
By: Chen Chia-lun and Lilian Wu

Taipei, June 8 (CNA) Over 90 percent of people in Taiwan support the new government’s policy of 201606080024t0001maintaining the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to an opinion poll published by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Wednesday.

The public opinion survey on President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inaugural speech and cross-strait issues showed 92.8 percent support for her government’s stance of safeguarding the existing peace and stability between Taiwan and China.

The survey also found that 74.4 percent of the Taiwan public agrees with Tsai’s position that cross-strait affairs should be managed on the basis of the Republic of China Constitution, the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, and other laws.

Meanwhile, 74.6 percent of people in Taiwan support President Tsai’s statement that she respects the historical fact of a 1992 meeting between Taiwan and China during which they reached a common understanding, according to the poll.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan attends BIO International Convention in US

Taiwan Today
Date: June 8, 2016

Taiwan sent a large delegation to BIO International Convention June 6-9 at Moscone Center in San

Pharmaceutical company staffers help keep a production line in full swing at Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park in southern Taiwan. (Staff Photo/Huang Chung-hsin)

Pharmaceutical company staffers help keep a production line in full swing at Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park in southern Taiwan. (Staff Photo/Huang Chung-hsin)

Francisco to showcase the President Tsai Ing-wen administration’s determination to promote Taiwan’s biomedical industry and its links to the world.

Hosted by U.S.-based Biotechnology Innovation Organization, the convention is the largest event of its kind for the global biomedical industry, attracting around 15,000 attendees comprising business representatives, CEOs, key policymakers and scientists from over 60 countries and territories.

Taiwan’s delegation, led by Minister without Portfolio Wu Tsung-tsong, consisted of over 100 members from different government departments and agencies, including the Ministries of Economic Affairs, Health and Welfare, and Science and Technology, as well as the Council of Agriculture, Development Center for Biotechnology, Medical and Pharmaceutical Industry and Development Center and incubation centers from several universities.

At the convention news conference in San Francisco, Wu said as one of the major parts of the five innovative industries set for promotion by the government, the biomedical industry has already received lots of resources and manpower in recent decades. “Now it is at the stage of taking off,” he said, adding that the biomedical industry has to do a little more, especially in the area of developing new medicines.     [FULL  STORY]

Lawmakers scuffle amid assets debate

‘GREEN TERROR’:KMT lawmakers accused their DPP counterparts of using ‘majority violence,’ while the convener said the opposition did not know the rules

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 09, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

Scuffles among lawmakers broke out in the legislature in Taipei yesterday as a combined session

Legislators clash over a draft bill for the handling of illicit party assets as Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai, second left, back, announces the suspension of the meeting. Photo: CNA

Legislators clash over a draft bill for the handling of illicit party assets as Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai, second left, back, announces the suspension of the meeting. Photo: CNA

completed the final procedural step before sending draft legislation targeting “illicit party assets” into cross-caucus negotiations.

A combined session of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee, the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statues Committee, and the Finance Committee on Monday passed the draft legislation after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators stormed out of a review session at which they used extended “procedural remarks” to slow the progress of a Democratic Progress Party (DPP)-sponsored proposal.

Yesterday’s session was to confirm Monday’s meeting minutes to enable the draft act to be sent out of committee ahead of a five-day recess, including the Dragon Boat Festival, and before KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) is scheduled to take her turn in the rotation as convener of the Internal Administration Committee next week.

Members of the New Power Party caucus arrived early to prevent KMT legislators from occupying the convener’s podium — a strategy commonly used by members of the opposition to impede proceedings.     [FULL  STORY]

DGPA: 116 days off for civil servants in 2017

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-08
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration (DGPA) on Wednesday announced that all 6760239government administrative agencies will have 116 days off, the same as this year, including the six days off for the Chinese New Year.

In addition to the Chinese New Year, there are four four-day holidays for next year, namely the 288 Peace Memorial Day, the Children’s Day and Tomb-sweeping Day, the Dragon Boat Festival, and the National Day.

Including the New Year Day, which is a three-day holiday from December 31 of this year to January 2 of next year, there are six long holidays next year. However, the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, falls on Wednesday, so it is a one-day holiday.

According to related regulations, when a national holiday falls on Tuesday or Thursday, the Monday and Friday in between should be adjusted to be a day off to make it a long holiday, but the Monday or Friday off should be made up by working on the Saturday of the previous week, the DGPA said.     [FULL  STORY]