Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/18
By: Sophia Yeh and Lilian Wu

Taipei, May 18 (CNA) Former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his wife will not attend a

state banquet following the inauguration of Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as Taiwan’s new president on May 20, Chen’s office said Wednesday.

Chen thanked Tsai for extending the invitation, whether it was done based on previous Presidential Office practice or out of respect for former national leaders, the office said.

It said that in the professional judgment of Chen’s medical team, Chen’s condition would benefit if he attended the state banquet because treating patients with trauma syndrome should not only involve medicine or physical therapy but also increased social engagement and interaction with others and rebuilding past relationships.

The Ministry of Justice should respect medical professionals and listen to their professional viewpoint, which would be consistent with a civilized society, the office said.

But the office also said the state banquet is exclusively for the inauguration of a new president, and the only focus should be Tsai.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
2016-05-17
By George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

“To us, the ‘One China’ is the Republic of China,” which is a sovereign state, the Mainland

Affairs Council said Tuesday, stressing that the position is the consensus of the majority in Taiwanese society.
The MAC said, “We have never accepted the ‘One China’ principle.”

According to Chinese media reports, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Monday, urging him to support the “One China” policy, to which Kerry said the U.S. position on the Taiwan issue had not changed and would not change even though it was against Taiwan independence.

The U.S. has long stuck to its “Taiwan Relations Act” and promised to maintain friendly relations between the two countries, the MAC said.

For the last eight years, the improved cross-strait relations have also deepened the relations and cooperation between the U.S. and Taiwan, the MAC said, adding that the ROC government would continue to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait and peace in the region.

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/17
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Lilian Wu

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) Taiwan has recorded 275 new cases of hepatitis A so far this year, the

highest number for the same period in recent years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

Half of the 275 infections were among people with HIV, the CDC said, citing data valid as of May 15.

CDC Director-General Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said most of the hepatitis A cases were recorded in the northern half of the country, with New Taipei accounting for 33.98 percent, Taipei 28 percent, Taichung 12.3 percent, and Taoyuan 9.1 percent.

In view of the situation, Kuo said, the CDC is planning to expand its hepatitis A vaccination program at the end of the year.

Among people under the age of 40, the first dose of the hepatitis A vaccine will be free if they have HIV, acute gonorrhea or primary syphilis, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: May 17, 2016

The 2016 Taiwan Joint Cancer Conference took place May 14 and 15 at National Taiwan

University Hospital in Taipei City, bringing together more than 1,500 of the world’s top physicians and oncology researchers to discuss collaborative projects and exchange information at an annual event designed to reflect and lead international medical trends.

The 21st TJCC was organized by the Breast Cancer Society of Taiwan under the theme Precision Medicine. “By utilizing molecular diagnostics, an effective therapy can be accurately determined for each cancer patient, thereby increasing survival rates,” BCST President Huang Chiun-sheng said in his welcome statement to the international audience.

The physician, who doubles as chief of the NTUH Breast Center, drew attention to what he called “a grand milestone of medicine,” a precision medicine initiative that U.S. President Barack Obama introduced last year with a focus on cancer therapy, adding that the innovative ideas and research results presented at the TJCC would help identify the most effective means of treating cancer.     [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: May 17, 2017
Compiled and translated by Yuan-ling Liang

Indonesia is set to stop sending migrant workers as domestic help overseas and plans to reduce the number to zero by 2017, says Soes Hindarno, director of placement and protection of overseas workers under the Indonesia’s Ministry of Manpower.

Nearly 70% of Indonesia’s seven million migrant workers are lower-educated, which leads to 60% of them working as domestic workers overseas. Asian countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are all main locations where these workers are sent to.

In recent years, exploitation of Indonesian employees all over the world has been reported widely and NGOs in Indonesia have drawn attention to human rights issues. The government has started to restrict the outflow of these workers and is striving to keep them in the country.

In 2015, Indonesian officials banned their citizens from working in 21 Middle Eastern countries to protect laborers from being exploited. However, many do not believe the policy will have much impact since laborers who were already working in these countries are out of Indonesian officials’ control.

Indonesia President Joko Widodo launched the zero-maid policy at the beginning of May. The Indonesian government is gradually reducing the number of its domestic workers working abroad and is planning to launch more than 10 million domestic job openings for these workers while providing technical training as well. By 2018, it is anticipated that Indonesia would export mostly technical workers instead of laborers without professional skills.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-17
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Kuomintang motion designed to block the import of pork with ractopamine residues from the United States failed to make a second reading at the Legislative Yuan Tuesday due to opposition from President-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s Democratic Progressive Party.

Taiwan’s attempts to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership are likely expected to be met with rising pressure from Washington to liberalize the import of pork treated with lean-meat drugs, a trend opposed by the island’s numerous pig farmers.

The KMT motion before lawmakers Tuesday basically demanded that “the new government must uphold the principle of separation between beef and pork, and strongly forbid the import of United States pork with leanness drugs.”

The KMT legislative caucus wanted the proposal to be reviewed by the Legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, but the DPP wanted a joint session with the Economics and Foreign and National Defense Committees.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/17
By: Rita Cheng and Lilian Wu

Washington, May 16 (CNA) The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday unanimously passed a concurrent resolution in support of Taiwan, reaffirming the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as “the cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations”.

It was the first time that the Six Assurances appeared in written form in a resolution passed by the U.S. Congress, in a bid to convey Washington’s long-term firm support for Taiwan on the eve of President-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration on May 20.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee first passed the measure — House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 88 proposed by Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) — on April 20, and it was passed unanimously in the House on Monday.

The Taiwan Relations Act, enacted in April 1979, was conceived to promote commercial, cultural and other unofficial relations between Taiwan and the United States in the absence of diplomatic ties between them.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-16
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Chen Shun-sheng, vice convener of former president Chen Shui-bian’s medical parole group, said on Monday that from a medical point of view he is in favor of the former president attending a state banquet that will be held May 20 in celebration of the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president and vice president.

Chen Chih-chung, Chen Shui-bian’s son, Monday morning posted on his Facebook page the photo of an invitation to the state banquet sent to his father and mother, saying whether his father will attend the banquet will depend on medical evaluation.

Chen Shun-sheng said during a media interview that the former president suffers from depression, poor memory, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. He said the former president also suffers from psychological trauma due to the past experience of being body-searched before trials and being handcuffed in jail.

It will help the former president to restore dignity if he accepts the new president’s invitation and attends the banquet, Chen Shun-sheng said, adding that he is in favor of Chen’s attendance.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/16
By: Yeh Tzu-kang and Y.F. Low

Taipei, May 16 (CNA) A man in Yunlin County has received prison sentences amounting to

2,350 years for molesting or raping his three daughters a total of 306 times within six years, beginning in 2008.

The 56-year-old father, however, will only need to serve 30 years in jail, the maximum term of imprisonment allowed under the Criminal Code.

The case can be appealed.

According to a verdict issued recently by the Yunlin District Court, the man began to molest his eldest daughter when she was 9 years old and began to rape her when she was 11.

His two other daughters also fell victim to his sexual abuse after his wife died in 2012, the verdict said.     [FULL  STORY]