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Ex-researcher says Academia Sinica playing politics

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 03, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

Academics working as full-time teachers at Chinese universities from next month will not be recruited by Academia Sinica in line with the law, the academy said yesterday.

In an official document announcing the policy on June 6, the academy said that starting from next month, Taiwanese working as full-time teachers at Chinese universities cannot serve as part-time researchers, former Academia Sinica researcher Liu Kung-chung (劉孔中) wrote in an op-ed published by the Chinese-language China Times yesterday.

While the academy says its policy is in line with the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), it is misinterpreting the law by saying that all Chinese universities are overseen by the Chinese Ministry of Education, Liu wrote.

Liu questioned why the academy is “attempting to sever ties with Taiwanese academics working in China” and asked whether its new policy is to “serve President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration’s scheme to further restrict cross-strait interaction.”    [FULL  STORY8]

Premier: China has not kept “one country, two systems” promise

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 01 July, 2019
By: Natalie Tso

People in Hong Kong protested again on Monday (CNA)

Clashes marked the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China on Monday. People protested during the flag raising ceremony and there were scuffles between police and protesters. They were speaking out against a controversial extradition bill that would send suspects to China for prosecution, and they calling for the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Taiwan’s government was closely following the events in Hong Kong on Monday.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan to crack down on unauthorized research collaborations with mainland China

Fears about a brain drain have prompted Taiwan to look more closely at the mainland talent-recruitment programme.

Nature
Date:  01 July 2019
By: Andrew Silver

Taiwan appears to be tightening its grip on researchers who get funding from mainland China out of concerns that it may be losing talent and intellectual property to the mainland.

According to the Taiwan’s Central News Agency, the island’s government is investigating seven researchers for allegedly joining a prestigious programme sponsored by the mainland China government to lure academics to the mainland without the necessary permissions.

Although the Council for Mainland Affairs, which manages Taiwan’s relationship with the mainland, refused to comment on this directly to Nature, it did say that it was increasingly monitoring the mainland’s attempts to attract Taiwan’s high-tech talent and industrial technology.

It also said Taiwan’s cabinet, the Executive Yuan, has directed its Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to send letters to universities, research and education institutions to remind their staff that they need permission to participate in major research programmes, such as the Thousand Talents Plan, or receive mainland China government funds.
[FULL  STORY]

One-stop mountain permit application portal in Taiwan goes live

The website offers streamlined application services for mountain climbers

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/01
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Mountaineering enthusiasts will now enjoy a fast-tracked application process for their planned adventures to the mountainous areas in Taiwan.

A one-stop mountain permit application portal, set up by Construction and Planning Agency (CPA), has gone live. The website incorporates application services previously managed by different agencies, which makes the whole process more streamlined and easier to navigate for users, reported UDN.    [FULL  STORY]

Malaysian officials in Taiwan to boost Chinese language exchanges

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/01
By: Chen Chih-Chung and Ko Lin

Photo courtesy of the MOE

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) A group of Malaysian education officials was in Taipei on Monday on an exchange program organized by the Ministry of Education (MOE) aimed at promoting greater cooperation on Chinese language instruction and expose them to language classes.

The ministry is hoping to use the program to continue expanding cooperation with Malaysia in the field of Chinese language teaching, certification, and teaching material development, it said.

Another key goal is to attract more Malaysian students to study in Taiwan and encourage Malaysians to recruit Taiwanese to teach Chinese in schools in the southeast Asian country.

Speaking at the opening of the 2019 Malaysia Mandarin Training Program at National Taipei University of Education, MOE official Huang Wei-yu (黃薳玉) called Taiwan an ideal place for learning traditional Chinese characters because people get to connect with traditional Chinese culture in a free and democratic society.    [FULL  STORY]

Union fights against AWOL claim

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 02, 2019
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday insisted that 24 EVA Airways flight attendants who

Striking EVA Airways flight attendants hold pink balloons with “Rational negotiation,” and “We want our rights protected” written on them in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

joined the strike on June 20 not be punished for being absent without leave (AWOL).

The flight attendants had informed their manager of their plan to join the strike in advance and had originally been marked as being on strike, before the company later changed their status to absent without leave, union secretary-general Cheng Ya-ling (鄭雅菱) told a news conference in Taipei.

Shortly before leaving work for the strike, four were undergoing training and 20 were awaiting boarding, the union said.

None of the flight attendants left work before the strike began, delayed boarding or walked away from passengers who had already boarded, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

5.7-Magnitude Earthquake Registered Off Taiwan Coast – Central Weather Bureau

Sputnik International
Date: 30.06.2019

BEIJING (Sputnik) – A 5.7-magnitude earthquake was registered on Sunday morning off the coast of Taiwan, the Chinese Central Weather Bureau reported.

According to the bureau, the tremor was registered southeast of Taiwan at 3:44 a.m. local time on Sunday (7:44 p.m. on Saturday GMT) 140 kilometres (87 miles) off the coast of Taitung County.
[SOURCE]

Central Taiwan’s Dongshi Forestry Culture Park open every day until September

The park has become a top destination for lotus blossom lovers

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/30
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(Dongshih Forest District Office photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Dongshi Forestry Culture Park (東勢林業文化園區), located in Taichung City’s Dongshi District, will be open to visitors every day from July 1 to August 31 to allow the public time to appreciate the lotus blossums, Dongshi Forest District Office (DFDO) posted in a notice on June 28.

The park is normally open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and closes on Monday and Tuesday. In recent years, the park has become known as the best place in central Taiwan to see lotuses in full bloom, as they can be witnessed in the timber pond each year, DFDO said.

Formerly the Taiwan Daxueshan Forestry Company (大雪山林業公司), the Dongshi Forestry Culture Park was once the site of a 1960's-era lumber factory, the largest in East Asia at the time. It was also the first place in Taiwan where American-style logging operations were introduced, which differed from the Japanese-style lumber mills that were common at the time.

Since opening in 2013, the forestry park still retains vestiges of the wood industry, such as lumber works, offices, and wooden dormitories. The 5-hectare timber pond is a particularly popular attraction for photography enthusiasts this time of year, the district office said, when it is blanketed with beautiful lotus blossoms.    [FULL  STORY]

Gou vows to prioritize increasing national birthrate as president

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/06/30
By: Chen Wei-ting, Lu Tai-cheng and Emerson Lim

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Chairman Terry Gou (center). CNA photo June 30, 2019

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), who is vying to represent the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) in the 2020 presidential election, reiterated on Sunday that he will prioritize policies to boost the birthrate if he becomes president.

The population will record negative growth should the number of new born babies continue to decline, placing Taiwan in danger of "national extinction," Gou said at a press conference for the launch of the H. Spectrum & Merck Innovation Lab in Taipei.

Gou pledged to boost the birth rate by shouldering the cost of bringing up children until the age of six if elected president next year, during the second televised platform presentation forum held by the KMT in Taichung on Saturday.

The business tycoon, whose net worth of US$7.7 billion makes him the richest man in Taiwan and 257th worldwide, said he will present details on his program to solve the population problem at the next platform presentation set to be held Wednesday in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

Lawmakers to vote on CCP event rules

‘DISGRACEFUL’ BEHAVIOR: The DPP caucus is changing an amendment to ban former high-ranking officials from attending Chinese state events forever

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 01, 2019
By: Hsieh Chun-lin and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Lawmakers are slated this week to vote on a proposed amendment that would ban high-ranking officials and military officers from attending official events in China that are deemed injurious to Taiwan’s national dignity.

The third reading of proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) could begin as early as Wednesday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said yesterday.

The DPP lawmakers have reached broad agreement over regulatory issues, including property rights, income tax, import excises and returning Taiwanese enterprises, with legal drafts more or less “settled” since June 21, he said.

However, the draft amendment banning former high-ranking officials from attending Chinese state events is undergoing revision, he said.    [FULL  STORY]