Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/06
By: Tang Pei-chun and Y.F. Low

Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Former Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said on Friday that her plan to visit Thailand to attend an international conference has been canceled because her visa application was rejected by the Thai government.

Lu told reporters that she had planned to depart Thursday to take part in the Istanbul Summit 2016 to be held by the Journalists and Writers Foundation on May 7-8 in Bangkok but could not obtain a visa.

After enquiring about the matter with Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Taiwan’s representative office in that country, she was told that the ministry could not decide on her visa application on its own and needed to submit it to the Cabinet for approval in light of her status as a former vice president, according to Lu.

But due to a lack of processing time, the Thai government decided to turn down the application and put off the visa issuance, she said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: May 6, 2016

Taiwan Railways Administration and Enoshima Electric Railway Co. Ltd. in Japan renewed May 1 for

11 months an agreement allowing passengers to enjoy reciprocal one-day tourist pass privileges, underscoring the strength of the growing rail tourism market in both countries.

The agreement, which has run annually since May 2013, covers state-run TRA’s 12.9-kilometer Pingxi Line in New Taipei City and privately owned EER’s 10-kilometer line in Kanagwa prefecture. The former passes through the historic mountainous districts of Ruifang and Pingxi, while the latter connects Kamakura and Fujisawa cities in an area renowned for its beaches, mountains, shrines and restaurants.

Both railways are popular with sightseers and close to the respective capitals of Taipei and Tokyo—a fact reflected by the addition of coupons and guides to nearby attractions in the 2016 edition of the pass. From May 2013 to February 2015, 7, 708 tickets were redeemed by Taiwan and Japan tourists.

The tie-up is part of ongoing TRA efforts to boost links with Japanese railway lines, stations and trains through a series of tourism promotion and marketing initiatives.     [FULL  STORY]

‘GEISHA DIPLOMACY’:The KMT’s comments were in response to remarks by Hsieh that he did not approve of military vessels being used to protect fishermen

Taipei Times
Date: May 07, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday accused former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) of

“acting like a concubine to Japan” after he reportedly said that sending military vessels to protect Taiwanese fishing boats amounts to declaring war on the US and Japan.

Hsieh, who is to be the next representative to Japan, on Wednesday said that he did not approve of sending military vessels to protect Taiwanese boats because it means that the nation “sees waging war as a viable option if necessary.”

He reportedly added that since Japan has a treaty of mutual cooperation and security with the US, the so-called “Anpo Treaty,” waging war with Japan would also mean waging a war against the US.

Peaceful means and negotiations should be employed to protect the interests of Taiwan’s fishermen, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/05
By: Chen Chao-fu and Christie Chen

Taipei, May 5 (CNA) A Taiwanese fishing boat and its crew, which had been detained by the Japanese coast guard last week in a disputed area of the Pacific Ocean, returned to southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County Thursday, and Premier Simon Chang (張善政) vowed to seek justice for the fishermen.

The mother and wife of the boat’s Captain Pan Chien-peng (潘建鵬) rushed over to embrace him as soon as the boat, the Tung Sheng Chi No. 16, arrived at Dafu Port in Xiaoliuqiu, an island off Pingtung County. The three of them broke down in tears as they embraced each other.

Chang, who also welcomed the fishermen at the Dafu Port, told the families of the crew that the government will seek justice for them and will continue to protect Taiwanese fishing boats operating in international waters.

He said the National Fishermen’s Association will also cover the NT$1.76 million (US$54,368) security deposit that the boat owner had to pay to the Japanese authorities in order to secure the release of the boat and its crew.     [FULL  STORY]

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

The life sentence delivered to a man by the Supreme Court on Thursday for killing a 10-year-old boy in Tainan City in December 2012 angered the child’s aunt, who has been lobbying death penalty for the perpetrator over the years.

Tseng Wen-chin was arrested on the day he killed the then 10-year-old boy surnamed Fang by slitting his throat in a toilet at a Tom’s World store.

The case outraged Taiwan’s society at that time not only because the victim was an innocent child but also because Tseng said that he didn’t care as “killing one person will not get death penalty” in Taiwan.

Despite prosecutors’ efforts to seek death penalty for Tseng, a local court gave him a life sentence in 2013, which left the child’s father and aunt, Fang Pei-chi, enraged and frustrated. After the court’s deliverance, Fang Pei-chi showed her nephew’s picture outside the court and cried out for justice.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/05
By: Chiu Chun-chin and Romulo Huang

Taipei, May 5 (CNA) A Vietnamese-American passenger was released from a hospital in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, and flew back to the United States on Thursday after having received about three months of medical treatment for cardiac failure and shock.

Sunny Pham, 72, was rushed to Landseed Hospital by the medical center of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after having developed fever, cough, difficult breathing and other symptoms at the airport on February 2 when he made a transit there on his trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from the U.S.

Pham was in critical condition and unconsciousness on arrival at the hospital where he received a series of emergency treatments, including an intensive care of extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), hospital officials said.

He was sent to the respiratory care ward 20 days after being treated at the intensive care unit of the hospital, when his health condition stabilized, they said, adding that the patient has been in a good recovery since then and met all conditions for being released from the hospital.

Prior to his departure, Pham expressed sincere gratitude to all of the personnel of the hospital for the excellent medical care provided to him and gave a thumbs up for the quality of medical care in Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: May 5, 2016

Taiwan’s workers can look forward to better conditions for child care and nursing in their places of

employment, with amendments to the Act of Gender Equality in Employment clearing third reading May 3 in the Legislative Yuan—the nation’s highest lawmaking body.

Under the new changes, a firm with 100 or more workers on its payroll, as compared to 250 previously, is required to provide nursing rooms, as well as child care facilities or off-site alternatives for their employees. In addition, mothers nursing children aged 2 and under are allowed a 60-minute nursing break per day, plus an additional 30 minutes for overtime exceeding one hour.

These employer-provided measures will benefit 3.68 million local workers, 1.24 million more than those covered by the old framework, according to the Ministry of Labor.

Lawmakers across the political spectrum have voiced support for the amended act, viewing it as furthering Taiwan’s headway in promoting workplace gender equality. Dr. Lin Ching-yi, a practicing gynecologist and Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker, lauded the new measure for creating a family-friendly work environment and encouraging childbearing.     [FULL  STORY]

RANDOM CHILD KILLING:The Supreme Court ruling said Tseng was mentally ill and could be rehabilitated, leading his victim’s aunt to say ‘Taiwan’s justice system is dead’

Taipei Times
Date: May 06, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a sentence of life imprisonment for convicted child killer

Tseng Wen-chin (曾文欽), angering the victim’s family, who condemned the nation’s justice system for not issuing a death sentence for the murder.

Tseng, 32, was found guilty of slashing the throat of a 10-year-old boy, surnamed Fang (方), and leaving him to die in Tainan in 2012.
Tseng randomly chose his victim at an arcade in a Tainan department store.

Tseng further shocked the public with remarks he made after his arrest, saying: “In Taiwan, you will not be sentenced to death for killing just one or two people.”

Commentators said the case was a major test for the judiciary regarding the random murder of children, and that a number of suspects in subsequent murder cases had cited Tseng’s words that judges would not sentence them to death.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

On March 29, 2015, Lieutenant Colonel Lao Nai-cheng gave a tour to more than 20 unauthorized civilians. One of the guests, entertainer Janet Lee, posted pictures on her Facebook page of her posing in front of an Apache AH-64E helicopter and sitting inside the cockpit at the commands.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Supreme Prosecutors Office confirmed Wednesday that no charges would be brought against 15 individuals investigated for the visit by civilians to an Apache helicopter base.

A senior officer at the unit in Taoyuan City, Lieutenant Colonel Lao Nai-cheng, had been investigated for leaking secrets by inviting civilians, including entertainer Janet Lee, to the base, where they took pictures outside and inside a helicopter which they later posted online.

On April 20, the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office came to the conclusion that none of the individuals should be indicted, and on Wednesday, the Supreme Prosecutors Office confirmed that decision, making it final.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/04
By: Sophia Yeh and Bear Lee

Taipei, May 4 (CNA) The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Wednesday said it was very

appreciative of the United States’ long-term support of Taiwan in various areas, including participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA).

Taiwan has been invited to attend the WHA as an observer every year since 2009, the year after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Kuomintang was inaugurated.

This year, however, Taiwan has not yet received an invitation to participate in the annual meeting of the World Health Organization’s decision-making body May 23-28 in Geneva and there have been concerns that Beijing may be trying to block the invitation as the DPP is about to take over the reins of power from the China-friendly KMT on May 20.

DPP spokesman Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄), expressing thanks to the U.S. for its support over the years, was responding to remarks by Susan A. Thornton, U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in an interview with CNA in Washington on Monday (EDT).

Thornton said it has always been the U.S.’ policy to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in organizations that require statehood and to advocate for its membership in those organizations that do not require statehood.     [FULL  STO-RY]