Asia One
Date:  Sep 17, 2015

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Forex Youth Corps., an online war game platform, was revealed as an

elaborate scam yesterday according to the Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ) Taipei City Investigation Bureau, and is reported to have scammed at least NT$7 billion ($302 million).

The investigation bureau had been receiving reports about a man surnamed Wu, who called himself “Optimus Prime,” a character from the Transformers franchise, since March. Wu wrote his own online game plugin programs, and marketed himself as a “professional forex dealer” to form the Forex Youth Corps.

Wu stated through his promotions in Facebook groups and through direct sales that joining the platform would earn high-profit returns. The get-rich scheme attracted students and young people with generally no experience. Scams reached at least NT$7 billion.

Other methods that the scamming group attempted included sharing information about their luxury life styles and experiences from using the platform on Facebook, ranging from traveling abroad to buying high-priced race cars and motorcycles.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/17
By: W. T. Chen and Lillian Lin

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) The 19 medical centers in Taiwan have been treating a high percentage of non-serious diseases and large numbers of outpatients, who should go instead to regional hospitals or clinics for conditions such as colds and eczema, according to a report released Thursday by the Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation (THRF).

The National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) pays the 19 medical centers in Taiwan approximately NT$900 million (US$27.76 million) per year in reimbursement fees for insured outpatients, THRF Deputy CEO Chu Hsien-kwang (朱顯光) said at a press briefing.

If patients who do not have a serious illness go instead to regional or district hospitals, or even clinics, it will ease the burden on the medical centers and save the medical resources for seriously ill patients, he added.

Upper respiratory tract infections, high blood pressure, fatigue syndrome, stomach problems, and skin diseases are defined by the THRF as non-serious illnesses.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015-09-17
Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie

Last month, three Chinese dissidents from the southwestern megacity of Chongqing

escaped by boat to Taiwan, before attempting a hazardous journey across the Pacific Ocean with two other Chinese dissidents, to Guam.

Lu Ning, Su Qianlong and Shi Jian,bought a small sailing boat with an auxiliary engine in China’s eastern Shandong province for around 200,000 yuan (U.S. $31,400), before sailing through the East China Sea and across the Taiwan Strait to the democratic island of Taiwan.

Their first voyage took a circuitous route, as they lost their way several times, with more than 30 days and at least a thousand kilometers (620 miles) at sea before they arrived in Taiwanese waters.

The three picked up Wang Rui and Yang Lu Yini in Taiwan, and the five escapees had planned to apply for political asylum from the U.S. government on the Pacific island of Guam.

But the group, who are all in their twenties and thirties, never got that far.

Instead, their boat ran into difficulties during strong winds and high waves off the island’s coast, and they were forced to appeal to the Taiwan authorities for help.

“On the afternoon of Sept. 12, we found a boat with four men and a woman aboard near Nanshalun [in Taiwan waters],” a marine rescue bureau told reporters at the time.     [FULL  STORY]

International Business Times
Date: September 17 2015
By: Mark Hanrahan

China’s top official on Taiwan affairs Wednesday warned against support for Taiwanese

independence, as the island prepares for a crucial presidential election in January.

“The ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist forces seek to negate the Chinese nation’s achievements in the war against Japan and erase Taiwan compatriots’ contributions to the fight against Japan’s colonial rule and victory against Japan’s attacks,” said Ma Xiaoguang with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office at a press conference, according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

“Curbing the spread of historical views that uphold ‘Taiwan independence’ and contain secessionist schemes are historical obligations that all responsible political parties and politicians should undertake,” he added.

Ma’s comments referred to controversy over the respective contributions of China’s nationalist and communist forces to the fight against Japan during World War II. The issue was the cause of some debate in recent weeks, as China marked the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Japan during the war with a huge military parade.

Some veterans and commentators expressed frustration with China’s governing Communist Party claiming credit for the defeat of Japan, when many historians say the nationalists, who went on to become Taiwan’s principal governing party, played a far more significant role.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-17
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Ministry of Education (MOE) denied allegations that it has changed the decision to drop charges it made against student protesters, members of the public and journalists for breaking into the ministry’s compound in July, reports said Thursday.

The ministry’s comments came after Chen Bo-yu, a student at the National Commercial Vocational Senior High School in Ilan, received a subpoena earlier this week by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office regarding his participation in illegal student activities, including the destruction of government property on July 23.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ting-fei condemned the education ministry for making false pretenses, urging its officials to explain publicly the procedures as to when and how the charges were dropped last month.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/17
By: Lee Chin-wei and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) A massive foot-washing event will be staged in the Presidential Office plaza and the 228 Peace Memorial Park of Taipei on Oct. 11 to foster the traditional family value of filial piety and mark the National Sports Day, event organizers said Thursday.

Applications to attend the event are open from Thursday and all applications must be received online through the official website of the Republic of China Sports Federation (ROCSF), which is organizing the annual event for the third year in a row, ROCSF President Chang Chao-kuo (張朝國) said at a press conference.

The event aims to heighten awareness among young people of the importance of filial piety and inspire people to treat their parents and other senior citizens better, Chang said.

People who have registered for the free event will each receive a health care programs manual, an umbrella, a towel package, a stool and a restaurant voucher worth NT$1,000 (US$30.7), according to Chang.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-17
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

The dengue fever outbreak that continues to ravage southern Taiwan is unlikely to ease up

until next January, as it has become more severe than previously thought, the national Centers for Disease Control said Thursday.

The total number of cases by then could reach 30,000-37,000, depending on the effectiveness of disease control efforts in the southern municipalities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, said CDC deputy director-general Chuang Jen-hsiang.

By comparison, Taiwan reported 15,732 dengue fever cases in 2014, by far the highest annual number since it began keeping records. Previous to that, the highest number of cases recorded in a single year was around 2,000, both in 2007 and 2010.

Tainan has reported the bulk of the outbreak, recording 9,634 cases out of 11,006 nationwide as of Wednesday, CDC data shows. Neighboring Kaohsiung had seen 1,195 cases as of the same day. Twenty-five deaths have been officially attributed to the disease.     [FULL  STORY]