Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/31
By: Tian Yu-bin and Lee Mei-yu

Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) Troubled German carmaker Volkswagen will recall 18,000 cars in

Taiwan around next January as a result of a diesel emissions scandal, according to the carmaker’s Taiwan branch.

In the wake of the emissions scandal, Germany’s federal motor transport authority has ordered a compulsory recall of all affected Volkswagen cars in the country, starting from Jan. 1.

The carmaker’s Taiwan branch said it will try to follow its headquarter’s instructions by recalling the affected cars in Taiwan around the same time.

The emissions scandal was exposed in September when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that emissions control software was being used on Volkswagen diesel cars to meet American environmental standards through defeat codes in their onboard computer systems to fool emissions-testing equipment.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Review
Date: November 1, 2015
By: PAT GAO

Taiwan is working to provide universal coverage for long-term care services.

When Xu Mei-jiao (許美嬌) reminisces about her childhood in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu

County, her thoughts invariably turn to her grandparents. Her father’s parents played a central role in her upbringing, raising her with affection and patience when her father and mother left the family home for several years to work in the nation’s cities. As she grew older, as is so often the case, the roles of caregiver and care recipient reversed. After her grandmother passed away, Xu, then a junior high school student, helped look after her increasingly frail grandfather. Far from viewing this as a burden, she felt a sense of contentment in returning the kindness that her relative had previously shown her.

Inspired by the happy times she shared with her beloved grandparents, Xu later pursued a career as a caregiver for disabled or incapacitated older people such as those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or in persistent vegetative states. “Caring for the elderly reminds me of the time I spent with my grandparents,” she explained in a guidebook on home care services published by the Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly (FWE). “I’m so grateful to them, and actually feel deep regret that I didn’t have the opportunity to look after my grandmother.” Last year, Xu, who works for the Hsinchu Catholic Social Service Center, was named one of the nation’s top 10 home caregivers by the Taiwan Home Service Strategic Alliance (THSSA) in recognition of her two decades of tireless dedication to her job.     [FULL  STORY]

SOUTH CHINA SEA:MOFA said that Taiwan was not involved in the arbitration, and reiterated the ROC’s sovereignty claims over four island chains in the disputed waters

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 01, 2015
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The government yesterday said that it does not recognize or accept a ruling by an

international arbitration panel that it could hear a case brought by the Philippines against China over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

The Philippines has not invited the Republic of China (ROC) to participate in its arbitration with China, and the arbitration tribunal has not solicited the ROC’s views, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement.

“Therefore, the arbitration does not affect the ROC in any way, and the ROC neither recognizes nor accepts related awards,” it said.

The ministry’s statement came after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Netherlands on Thursday ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the case, in which the Philippines argues that China’s “nine-dash line” territorial claim over South China Sea waters is unlawful under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-30
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The island county of Penghu might hold a second referendum

early next year about the legalization of casinos after a local review committee approved a new proposal Friday.

A first referendum about the issue in 2009 saw a clear majority reject the idea of legalized gambling.

An alliance with support from the commercial, trade, tourism and travel sectors already started campaigning for a new referendum in March 2013, right after the three-year ban on another referendum on the same topic ended. By July of that year, the group had already collected at least 4,000 signatures which it submitted to the county referendum review committee, but the body did not succeeded in handling the case by the time its term ended late last year.

The new Democratic Progressive Party county government of County Magistrate Chen Kuang-fu approved the membership for the new committee, which on Friday approved the application from the alliance.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/30
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) The London-based LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community choir “Pink Singers” and the Taiwan-based group “G-Major” held a mini-concert in Taipei Friday to promote an upcoming festival featuring gay choirs from around the world.

The event, co-organized by the British Office in Taipei and the British Council, was held to coincide with the opening day of three-day “Hand in Hand Asian LGBT Choral Festival,” the first of its kind to take place in Taiwan.

“The British government supports equality for all. Freedom from discrimination is a basic human right, is central to our values and is protected through our laws,” said Chris Wood, head of the British Office, which represents U.K. interests in Taiwan in the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties.

“In line with our values, we are proud to promote equality and human rights around the world, including the rights of minority groups that have historically not received equal treatment,” he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015-10-30
By: CNA

Taiwan is well aware of the recent incident in which a US Navy warship sailed close by a

reef claimed by China in contested waters in the South China Sea, the country’s defense minister Kao Kuang-chi said Wednesday.

Kao’s ministry knew about the matter in advance, and “not from newspapers,” Kao said while answering lawmakers’ questions about the high-profile patrol a day earlier by the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen within 12 nautical miles of several reefs claimed by Beijing, including Subi Reef, in the Spratly Islands.

The lawmakers had expressed concern about whether the US had informed Taiwan of the patrol before it was carried out.

Asked if the incident would affect the ROC Navy’s scheduled patrols in the South China Sea, Kao said that such patrol plans will be implemented as scheduled. “There are aircraft sent to the South China Sea each month, each season or on other occasions to conduct resupply missions,” he noted.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-29
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The New Taipei City government’s Water Resources Department warned residents in

Banciao district and the greater Taipei area to store water in advance as supplies will be disrupted beginning Saturday, reports said Thursday.

The water suspension will be carried out to make way for the installation of new transmission tower cables and other related equipment by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) in Banciao, a process that will disrupt the district’s water grid as distributing pumps will be temporarily shut down.

Beginning Saturday at 7 a.m. through Sunday morning at 8, water supplies will be cut off for 25 hours in the districts of Yingge, Shulin, Taishan, Sanxia (excluding Henxi and Chenfu Communities) Hsinchuang, Wugu (partial areas), and Banciao’s Xicun Community.     [FULL  STORY]