Radio Taiwan International
Date: 21 November, 2019
By: Jake Chen
Highway project awarded for reduced environmental impact. (CNA Photo)
The project received the Global Road Achievement Awards from the International Road Federation. It is the first ever construction project in Taiwan to receive this honor. [FULL STORY]
At least 6 universities in Taiwan welcome Taiwanese, other int'l students recently studying in Hong Kong
Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/21
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
NTU (Facebook photo)
In Hong Kong, violent clashes have spread to college campuses, including the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets in tense standoffs, resulting in a spike in injuries among protesting students. Meanwhile, the universities most affected have shortened the semester for safety reasons.
Taiwan's Ministry of Education has revealed that over 60 percent of the 1,021 Taiwanese studying in Hong Kong have returned home. Many have yet to decide whether or not to continue their education in the self-governing territory.
Over the past week, at least six of Taiwan's top universities have announced that they welcome Taiwanese and other international students studying in Hong Kong to take their courses, saying that class credits will be recognized if they meet requirements, UDN reported. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/11/21
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Evelyn Kao
Taipei, Nov. 21 (CNA) The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to establish maximum allowable levels for glycidol, which is classified as probably carcinogenic to humans, in foodstuffs, with the new measure expected to be introduced in the first half of 2020, an FDA official said Thursday.
The FDA's decision came after Control Yuan members Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) and Tsai Chung-yi (蔡崇義) urged the government to set limits to the amount of glycidyl (glycidol) fatty acid esters (GEs) from vegetable oils in food. Their call was made in light of the fact that glycidol has been detected in edible oils and fats as well as in foods made using them, such as margarine, baked goods and confectionery products and spreads (chocolate spreads and peanut butter).
In February 2018, the European Union set maximum levels for GEs at up to 1000 µg/kg in specified foods, including vegetable fats and oils.
Regulations regarding chocolate label management published by the FDA under the Ministry of Health and Welfare in June 2016 required only that chocolate contain a certain amount of cocoa, to be called chocolate. However, the regulations do not apply to the majority of chocolate products containing filling or brown chocolate manufactured using large amounts of coconut oil, Tien and Tsai said.
[FULL STORY]
NEAR MISS: The tropical storm was southeast of Oluanpi yesterday and is expected to move east away from the nation. However, a monsoon is forecast for Sunday night
Taipei Times
Date: Nov 22, 2019
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday said that it was not likely to issue a sea alert for tropical storm Fung-wong (鳳凰) as the storm is forecast to move farther away from Taiwan.
As of 2pm yesterday, Fung-wong was 420km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 14kph.
Data from the bureau also showed that its maximum wind speed reached 108kph, with its radius expanding to 120km.
Bureau forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping (官欣平) said that since Wednesday night, the storm’s projected path has largely moved toward the east, meaning it is moving away from the nation. [FULL STORY]
Taiwan has provided tremendous support for the Hong Kong protests, including solidarity rallies and material supplies. Why would Taiwan care so much about Hong Kong aside from having a common “enemy”?
The News Lens
Date: 2019/11/21
By: Milo Hsieh
As the protests in Hong Kong continue, Hongkongers and Taiwanese around the world have demonstrated a surprising level of solidarity. Taiwanese have mobilized to send protest gear to Hong Kong, and coordinate activists to speak at events, organize protest support rallies and create “Lennon Walls” to raise awareness.
For two relatively separate groups of people that barely share a common language and have limited official contact, the level of solidarity today is especially impressive. But just what explains such spontaneous, global demonstrations of Hongkonger-Taiwanese solidarity?
Recalling memories of authoritarianism
Hong Kong was once a sanctuary for Taiwanese activists and liberals, when Hong Kong was free and Taiwan was not. But as Taiwan democratized in the 1990s and Hong Kong was returned to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1997, the tables turned and liberty in Hong Kong was slowly eroded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The scenes of violence, chaos, and resistance to CCP authority we are seeing in Hong Kong today are eerily similar to the Taiwanese experience prior to the lifting of martial law in 1987. In Taiwan, memories of authoritarianism are both historical and present. In the past, the Kuomintang (KMT) regime frequently employed criminal gangs for crowd control. In present day Hong Kong, pro-unification gangs frequently harass pro-democracy activists. [FULL STORY]
Radio Taiwan International
Date: 20 November, 2019
By: John Van Trieste
Election season in Taiwan brings
Has the state of politics got you sick? You’re not alone. In Taiwan, a bruising campaign season is underway in the final weeks before the 2020 election. And it is literally making people here unwell.
Mental health professionals say that this is something that happens around election time here, as political passions ignite and pressure builds. They say that for some people, especially those most tuned into politics, all this pressure takes a toll.
The result is what they call “election syndrome”. The syndrome manifests itself in different ways- some lose sleep, feel anxiety, or find they can’t eat. In the most extreme cases, patients may even become delusional. [FULL STORY]
Global Taiwan Institute
Date: November 20, 2019
By: Michael Mazza
Earlier this month, the US Department of State released its report on President Trump’s Indo-Pacific strategy, “A Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Advancing a Shared Vision.” The report, timed to coincide with the East Asia Summit and the second iteration of the Indo-Pacific Business Forum, both held in Bangkok, provides an overview of the Trump administration’s vision for the Indo-Pacific and of the policies it has adopted in pursuit of that vision. As can be discerned from the report, the State Department views Taiwan as an important partner—but Taiwan arguably features less prominently than it could and should.
Taiwan is listed as one of the countries with which the United States is “joining […] to face emerging challenges.” The report also asserts that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy “aligns closely” with America’s “vision and approach in the Indo-Pacific region.” In a section on “bilateral partnerships,” the report spends two paragraphs (more than on Japan and on the Republic of Korea) describing how the United States is “strengthening and deepening” its relationship with Taiwan and expressing concerns over the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) “actions to bully Taiwan,” which the report says “undermine the cross-Strait status quo.” This last argument is important for the United States to make publicly and repeatedly. Beijing has sought to paint Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s current president, as a troublemaker in the Taiwan Strait. Combatting that narrative by pointing to the PRC’s quite transparent efforts to upset stability in the Strait is crucial, as it puts pressure on Beijing to reverse course and on Taiwan’s friends and partners to stand by the island.
The discussion of US-Taiwan relations in the report highlights arms sales, the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (though not by name), and the first-ever Pacific Islands Dialogue, which Taiwan and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) co-hosted. In its sentence on the GCTF, the report describes Taiwan and AIT cooperating “to convene hundreds of Indo-Pacific policymakers and experts on issues including public health, women’s empowerment, media disinformation, and the digital economy.” The administration clearly sees Taiwan not only as a consumer of American security, but as a contributor to regional development.
That view is clear in some of the report’s other mentions of Taiwan as well. In the report’s chapter on “enhancing economic prosperity,” the State Department includes Taiwan in a list of “like-minded partners” with which it is working to advance “an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable internet.” In the chapter, “Championing Good Governance,” the State department writes, “the United States is developing partnerships in governance priorities with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, and others.” In neither case, however, does the report provide specifics on the nature of that cooperation, as it frequently does when it comes to cooperation with Japan, for example. [FULL STORY]
Chen Shui-bian hopes Taiwan Action Party Alliance can secure Legislative Yuan spots in January’s election
Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/20
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said Wednesday (Nov.
Chen Chih-chung with Taiwan Independence flag on Yushan. (Facebook photo)
Chen's son, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilor for Kaohsiung Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), recently stirred up controversy after carrying Taiwan's Independence flag to the main peak of Yushan, which has an elevation of 3,952 meters above sea level. This prompted Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Lee Ming-hsien (李明賢) to state that politics should not be brought into national parks, and he has reported the move to the administrative office of Yushan.
[FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/11/20
By: Yu Hsiang and Evelyn Kao
Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Central Committee formally confirmed 31 of its
From left to right are Tseng Ming-chung, Wu Sz-huai and Wu Den-yih
The confirmation came after former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Chang Hsien-yao's (張顯耀) No. 17 listing was voted down by a 57-106 margin and the delisting of KMT Central Standing Committee member Fan Cheng-lien (范成連) and Shi Xueyan (史雪燕), the head of an association of Chinese spouses of Taiwanese citizens.
Fan announced a day earlier that he was voluntarily standing down from his No. 19 spot on the list because he wants to concentrate on doing business in China, while Shi was delisted because she failed to pay a deposit of NT$200,000 (US$6,600) to register her candidacy.
The KMT announced its nominees for at-large legislative seats Nov. 13, with former Central Police University Professor Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) topping the list. [FULL STORY]
Taipei Times
Date: Nov 21, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA
The Ministry of Labor on Tuesday issued guidelines aimed at clarifying whether workers should be deemed employees or contractors in labor contracts.
The guidelines are not legally binding, but are designed to help businesses, workers and government agencies to make better determinations.
Under the guidelines, whether a worker should be considered an employee or not largely depends on their level of subordination, or more simply, how much independence they have in determining aspects of their work.
Determining factors include whether workers are allowed to freely choose when, where and how they work, if they can freely refuse assigned work and if they face consequences for violating company regulations. [FULL STORY]
