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Government to set legal limits on aluminum levels in food items

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-18
By Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The government will soon revise regulation on the levels of aluminum 6729625residues in food items, with the new amendment to be announced in March this year, Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Monday.

In Taiwan, food products that use raising agents have been found to contain excessively high levels of aluminum, it said, adding that consumption of the non-ferrous metal could affect memory.

To date, there are no legal limits on raising agents added to processed food, but simply stating that manufacturers are allowed to use them for “appropriate use.”     [FULL  STORY]

Premier insists DPP form new Cabinet to replace his

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/18
By: Tai Ya-chen, Jay Chen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 18 (CNA) Though President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said Monday

Departing Premier Mao Chi-kuo (center).

Departing Premier Mao Chi-kuo (center).

that he would not accept the Cabinet’s resignation for now, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) went through with his pledge to lead the Cabinet in resigning en masse later that day, according to Cabinet spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群).

Ma went to the premier’s residence around noon Monday in an effort to retain Mao and his Cabinet but did not meet with him there before Mao led his Cabinet’s resignation, according to Sun.

Mao tendered his resignation Saturday and led the Cabinet’s resignation Monday afternoon in the wake of the ruling Kuomintang’s defeat in Taiwan’s Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections.     [FULL  STORY]

Ma reiterates commitment to women’s rights

Taiwan Today
Date: January 18, 2016

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said Jan. 15 that significant headway has

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou welcomes ICW Chairwoman Kim Jung-sook to the Presidential Office Jan. 15 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of Presidential Office)

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou welcomes ICW Chairwoman Kim Jung-sook to the Presidential Office Jan. 15 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of Presidential Office)

been achieved in promoting gender equality in Taiwan, with the government bringing the country’s related practices in line with global standards.

“Taiwan is enhancing women’s rights on all fronts,” Ma said. “Such progress is illustrated by the nation’s fifth-place global ranking based on the criteria of the 2013 Gender Inequality Index by U.N. Development Program.

“Other achievements include enactment of the Enforcement Act of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 2011, as well as domestication of five other U.N. conventions on human rights protection.”     [FULL  STORY]

Tsai woos US with stability vow

STEADY AS SHE GOES:At Tsai’s meeting with former US deputy secretary of state Bill Burns, she pledged she would seek to maintain peace and stability in the region

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 19, 2016
By: Staff Writer, with CNA

President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said her administration

President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, back right, meets former US deputy secretary of state Bill Burns, back left, at the Democratic Progressive Party’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday. Photo provided by Democratic Progressive Party

President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, back right, meets former US deputy secretary of state Bill Burns, back left, at the Democratic Progressive Party’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday. Photo provided by Democratic Progressive Party

plans to maintain close, friendly relations with the US and promote cooperation between the two nations in all areas, especially in the economic and industrial realms.

Tsai made the remarks as she met former US deputy secretary of state Bill Burns at the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters.

In a statement released after the one-hour meeting, the DPP said that Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, congratulated Tsai on her victory in the presidential election and on the DPP winning an absolute majority in the legislative elections.     [FULL  STORY]

CHTHONIC Singer FREDDY LIM Elected Legislator In Taiwan

BlabberMouth.net
Date: January 16, 2016

According to Focus Taiwan, Freddy Lim, frontman of the Taiwanese metal freddylimsuit_638band CHTHONIC, was elected Saturday (January 16) as a legislator in Taipei’s 5th District. The singer defeated veteran legislator Lin Yu-fang of the Kuomintang by more than 6,000 votes.

Famous for his long hair and tattoos, Lim was the first rock star in Eastern Asia to run for office and is standing for a brand new political party — the New Power Party (NPP) — which is leading the pro-democracy Youth movement in Taiwan.

A longtime political activist, frontman Freddy Lim recently lent his public profile to several social movements.

The NPP was founded in January 2015 as a brand new political party and emerged from the Sunflower student movement of the previous year, which Lim was at the forefront of. They are advocates for universal human rights, civil and political liberties and protecting Taiwan’s independence as a sovereign state. The party’s main policy is “Transitional Justice,” which, lyrically, has been covered in all of CHTHONIC’s studio albums.     [FULL  STORY]

After vote, China tells Taiwan to abandon independence “hallucination”

Reuters via Yahoo News
Date January 17, 2016
By: Reuters By James Pomfret, Matthew Miller and Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) – Taiwan should abandon its “hallucinations”

Taiwanese man watches a live broadcast of Taiwan's presidential election at a cafe in Shanghai

Taiwanese man watches a live broadcast of Taiwan’s presidential election at a cafe in Shanghai

about pushing for independence, as any moves towards it would be a “poison”, Chinese state-run media said after a landslide victory for the island’s independence-leaning opposition.

Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a convincing victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, in what could usher in a new round of instability with China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own.

any moves towards independence were like a “poison” that would cause Taiwan to perish.

Tsai pledged to maintain peace with its giant neighbour China, while China’s Taiwan Affairs Office warned it would oppose any move towards independence and that Beijing was determined to defend the country’s sovereignty.

Reacting to Tsai’s victory, China’s government-controlled media used noticeably less shrill language than that levelled at Chen Shui-bian, the DPP’s last president, and noted her pledges for peace and to maintain the “status quo” with China.

But the official Xinhua news agency also warned any moves towards independence were like a “poison” that would cause Taiwan to perish.     [FULL  STORY]

China, Economy Tests for Taiwan Presidential Winner Tsai

ABC News
Jan 17, 2016
By christopher bodeen, associated press
Associated Press writer Ralph Jennings contributed to this report.

Taiwan’s presidential election victor Tsai Ying-wen will enjoy a broad 6728482mandate from her commanding victory and her independence-leaning party’s new legislative majority, but managing the island’s delicate relations with China will be tricky.

Already, Beijing warned following her Saturday night victory that it will not budge on its bottom line that Taiwan’s leader must agree that the communist mainland and self-governing island democracy are part of a single Chinese nation. The sides could be in for a lengthy wait as China assesses whether it feels it can trust Tsai.

“To handle cross-Taiwan Strait relations after Tsai’s election will be difficult, not just for Taiwan but also for mainland China,” said Huang Jing, a China expert at Singapore National University’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Tsai, who will be Taiwan’s first female president, won by 56 percent of the vote to 31 percent for her closest rival Eric Chu of the China-friendly Nationalist Party, which has held the presidency for the last eight years. Her Democratic Progressive Party won 68 of 113 parliamentary seats, giving it its first majority in the assembly long-dominated by the Nationalists.

“I wasn’t surprised a bit by the outcome. The Nationalists had to go. Now Tsai just needs to focus on the economy so I don’t expect she’ll do anything to rile up China,” Taipei tour bus driver Tan Kuang-jung said as a constant drizzle fell over the capital Sunday.     [FULL  STORY]

KMT faces leadership struggle

Huang Min-hui ad interim chairperson from Monday: reports

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-17
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Central Standing Committee of the ruling

KMT faces leadership struggle

KMT faces leadership struggle

Kuomintang was scheduled to meet Monday to pave the way for a new party leader.

Chairman Eric Liluan Chu announced his imminent resignation Saturday evening as it became clear that he had not only lost the presidential election, but that the KMT was also dealt a major blow at the 113-seat Legislative Yuan, tumbling from 64 to 35 seats. In his wake, Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin also resigned as he lost a bid to win a legislative seat in Keelung.

Monday’s CSC meeting was to be chaired by the other remaining vice chairperson, former Chiayi City Mayor Huang Min-hui. She could immediately be appointed as an interim party leader until new chairmanship elections take place within three months, reports said.     [FULL  STORY]

New faces to enter Taiwan’s Legislature as young generation rises

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/17
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Many new faces were elected Saturday to Taiwan’s

New Power Party's Freddy Lim (left) and Huang Kuo-chang.

New Power Party’s Freddy Lim (left) and Huang Kuo-chang.

113-seat Legislature, some of them first-time candidates that beat veteran legislators, as voters in those constituencies pinned their hopes on a younger generation.

One of the noteworthy developments was the performance of the New Power Party (NPP), which emerged after the 2014 Sunflower Movement and managed to win five legislative seats Saturday. It will be the third largest party in the Legislature after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which won 68 seats, and the Kuomintang with 35.

When the new Legislature opens in February, NPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) will be one of the first-time candidates taking a seat. Huang, 42, defeated veteran KMT incumbent lawmaker Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) in a constituency in New Taipei.     [FULL  STORY]

Tsai’s unexpected political journey

METAMORPHOSIS:Once an aloof academic lacking public flair, Tsai Ing-wen has transformed into a dynamic leader, carrying her party to victory with cultivated poise

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 18, 2016
By: Chen Hui-ping and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday led the Democratic

Democratic Progressive Party supporters shine lights from their mobile devices as they celebrate election results during a rally in Taipei on Saturday. Photo: Bloomberg

Democratic Progressive Party supporters shine lights from their mobile devices as they celebrate election results during a rally in Taipei on Saturday. Photo: Bloomberg

Progressive Party (DPP) to a landslide victory and became the nation’s first female president.
A professor of law with a doctoral degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Tsai, born in 1956, entered the limelight in 1998 as a member of a delegation that negotiated terms for the nations accession to the WTO, making a reputation for herself as a technocrat with level-headedness at the negotiation table.

In 2000, the DPP’s Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was elected president and Tsai was named Mainland Affairs Council minister. She carried multiple diplomatic duties, including ongoing WTO negotiations.     [FULL  STORY]