Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-03
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Tsai Ing-wen has decided to name Professor James Liao

of the University of California at Los Angeles as the new president of the Academia Sinica, the Presidential Office announced Friday.

The choice caps months of controversy surrounding the venerable academic institution, which gathers the top of Taiwan’s academic world on a campus in Taipei City’s Nangang District.

Liao chairs the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA. Before moving to the United States, he graduated from National Taiwan University with a B.A. in Chemical Engineering.

He had been seen as the frontrunner of three candidates selected by a special Academia Sinica committee for a name list offered to the nation’s president.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: June 3, 2016

Taiwan’s Cabinet is working to create a new national development model based on the policy

platform of President Tsai Ing-wen while addressing the most pressing economic, political and social issues, according to Premier Lin Chuan June 3.

“Innovation, employment and distribution are the three basic guidelines leading Taiwan’s economic and national development going forward,” Lin said. “The government will seek solutions to industry problems, promote investment and international collaboration to stimulate growth, and implement reforms to uphold the values of democracy, freedom and rule of law.”

The premier made the remarks while delivering his first policy guideline report at the Legislative Yuan after the Tsai administration took office May 20.

Comprising 19 chapters, the report touches upon key issues spanning domestic affairs, economy, education, finance, foreign affairs, national defense and technology. The premier said the proposed policies will be implemented in line with a five-pronged approach.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/03
By: Bien Chin-fen, Lu Kang-chun Kuan Jui-ping and Lilian Wu

Taipei, June 3 (CNA) A Chinese passenger who caused panic among fellow passengers by claiming that he had a bomb in his baggage has been turned over to Taiwanese prosecutors, aviation police said Friday.

The 27-year-old man surnamed Yu was angry that his Air China Flight 186, originally set to depart to Beijing on Thursday, was delayed until Friday morning because of flooding inside and outside Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport that caused major disruptions.

He got rowdy on the plane after all passengers had boarded and then shouted “I have a bomb in my baggage.”

Aviation police said they were informed of the incident at 10:20 a.m. A bomb squad and two fire trucks were deployed to the scene.    [FULL  STORY]

PAROLE CONDITIONS RELAXED:Taichung Prison said that the former president can meet and great his old friends in a private room during a fundraising dinner event

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 04, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff writer, with CNA

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is planning to attend a fundraising dinner for the

Ketagalan Foundation in Taipei tonight, despite Taichung Prison advising against his attendance, Chen’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), said, adding that his father would comply with all of the preconditions of his medical parole set by the judicial authority.

Although Taichung Prison said in a press release yesterday that it would be “inappropriate” for Chen Shui-bian to attend the fundraising event because of its political nature, Chen Chih-chung yesterday told media in Kaohsiung that his father “would definitely go to Taipei to attend the fundraising dinner held by the Ketagalan Foundation,” saying that the dinner was not a political event.

“He will do so, in order not to cause trouble for the judicial authorities. We see the matter as a medical issue, and it should not be mixed up with politics,” Chen Chih-chung said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-02
By: Chia Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Minister without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen said Thursday that despite the electricity supplies were expected to run tight for this and the next summer, it was unexpected that the heat wave would hit the island this early, and thus did the power crisis.

The state-run Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) on Wednesday warned about tight electricity supplies, after its operating reserve ratio hit a 10-year low amid hot weather a day earlier, according to Central News Agency.

The power usage on Tuesday came to its highest so far this year, when the percentage of operating reserves fell to only 1.64 percent of the peak load at around 2 p.m. in the afternoon, hitting the lowest level in ten years, according to Taipower.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: June 2, 2016

Lan Chung-wen, a distinguished professor at National Taiwan University

Department of Chemical Engineering, is the nation’s first ever winner of the prestigious Laudise Prize for contributions to the field of crystal growth.

The triennial honor, which recognizes Lan’s work in developing high-performance multicystalline silicon for solar cells, will be presented to the alumnus of Taipei City-based NTU during awarding body International Organization for Crystal Growth’s conference Aug. 8 in Nagoya, Japan.

Lan, the sole ethnic Chinese member of the editorial board of IOCG-published Journal of Crystal Growth, plays a key role in spearheading the growth of Taiwan’s solar cell industry. He leads several national energy research projects and academia-industry programs backed by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

According to the Department of Chemical Engineering, Lan’s research on developing high-performance multicystalline silicon for solar cells is a collaboration with Sino-American Silicon Products Inc., a major manufacturer of silicon wafers in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City, and Taipei-based solar cell module supplier Solartech Energy Corp.     [FULL  STORY]

BE PREPARED:he fate of five Taiwanese due to be sentenced in Kenya over a 2014 telecoms scam is uncertain as Nairobi has been evasive under pressure from China

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 03, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed pessimism over the fate of

five Taiwanese fraud suspects awaiting a verdict in Kenya, saying that communication between Taipei and Nairobi has been patchy.

Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which was held to review the achievements of the nation’s participation in this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Some lawmakers shifted their focus to the fraud suspects after local media reports earlier in the day said that the government’s efforts to secure the return of the five following a pending court verdict on Monday next week have been futile due to pressure from China.

Responding to questions from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), Department of West Asian and African Affairs Deputy Director-General Alexandre Cheng (鄭維) said Representative to South Africa John Chen (陳忠) and a Ministry of Justice-affiliated secretary arrived in Nairobi yesterday in the hope of presenting the government’s stance to Kenyan authorities before the ruling is issued.     [FULL  STORY]