Page Three

Justice commission chair lays out goals for second year of work

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 31 May, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

The Transitional Justice Commission is marking the end of its first year of work. The

Yang Tsui, acting chairperson of the Transitional Justice Commission

government set up the commission a year ago on Friday, charging it with uncovering the truth about the abuses of Taiwan’s post-war authoritarian government.

In a radio interview Friday, the commission’s acting chairperson, Yang Tsui, looked back on the commission’s accomplishments and the challenges it has faced in the past year.

Yang said the commission has overturned unjust convictions from the authoritarian period, collected political documents from the era, and put together a documentary film on state surveillance of campuses during the 1980’s.

However, Yang said that it takes time to gather historical documents that could help uncover the truth behind the wrongs of the past.    [FULL  STORY]

REVIEW: Love Boat: Taiwan (愛之船)

New Bloom Magazine
Date: May 31, 2019 
By Brian Hioe

VALERIE SOE’S Love Boat: Taiwan details the history of an institution well-known among diasporic Taiwanese and particularly Taiwanese-Americans—the Love Boat, officially known as the Overseas Compatriot Youth Formosa Study Tour. Despite how widely known the program is, Love Boat: Taiwanis likely the first attempt to historically document the program.

The tour program, which exists in a scaled-down form even today, provided a monthlong tour of Taiwan for individuals of Taiwanese or Chinese descent born outside of Taiwan or China from 1967 onward. The program was begun by the KMT government during authoritarian times as a way of bolstering cultural claims of being the rightful representative of China, as a means of building what we would term today soft power among young diasporic Taiwanese or Chinese. However, the tour acquired its name of Love Boat because of the culture of hook-ups, dating, and wild partying which developed out of participants in the program.

Indeed, director Valerie Soe was herself a participant in the program, hence her interest in revisiting the program many years later. Soe’s documentary benefits not only from her firsthand experiences at Love Boat, with Soe featuring in the film herself, but a wide range of interviews with Love Boat participants—all the way back to a surviving participant of the first generation of Love Boat, and to as recently as participants in Love Boat in 2013, when a public incident caused by students led to a scaling down of the program.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan a ‘beautiful beacon’ for religious freedom

U.S. Commissioner on International Religious Freedom adds right to practice religion elsewhere is in peril and international community should do more

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/31
By: Yu-ning Hsu, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Left to right: Bob Fu, Csaba Sógor, Nadine Maenza, Kenneth Starr, and Lyim Hong-tiong.

Hsinchu (Taiwan News) – While attending the Taiwan International Religious Freedom Forum, the U.S. Commissioner on International Religious Freedom, Nadine Maenza, told Taiwan News that when it comes to freedom of religion China cannot compare to Taiwan.

“Taiwan is a really beautiful beacon for religious freedom,” Maenza said and the proof of that is, “We are here today at this conference with leaders from around the world coming to talk about religious freedom.”

After reading a letter to the forum attendees from Tenzin Dorjee, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Maenza said more and diverse actors across the globe have joined the fight to protect the right of religion or belief, yet the right to religion is more imperiled than ever.

“Entire generations have endured cruel or unrelenting treatment because of their beliefs,” said Maenza. “(This is) particularly true for the three countries that USCIRF featured in our very first report in the year of 2000: Russia, Sudan, and China.”    [FULL  STORY]

U.S.-Taiwan MOU to protect against cross-border abduction: official

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/31
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, May 31 (CNA) A recently signed U.S.-Taiwan agreement on international parental

Suzanne Lawrence, the U.S. Department of State special adviser for children’s issues

child abduction is a great first step toward further cooperation between the two democracies to better protect children involved in cross-border abduction, a visiting U.S. official said Friday.

Suzanne Lawrence, the U.S. Department of State special adviser for children’s issues, told CNA that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed last month helps the authorities on both sides to establish direct lines of contact to jointly address the issue.

“One of the great benefits of signing this kind of agreement is that you’re basically committing to having lines of communication, and you know where to go when a problem comes up,” she said, adding that this is “a great first step.”

Lawrence was referring to the MOU on Cooperation on International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) signed April 12 by representatives from both countries in Washington, D.C.    [FULL  STORY]

Synthetic drugs a growing problem: minister

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 01, 2019
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) yesterday warned about increasing

Bags containing 400kg of amphetamine imported from Vietnam hidden inside tea leaves are displayed at a news conference held by the Criminal Investigation Bureau in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times

consumption of new forms of synthetic drugs that has led to a host of health and social problems, including an upsurge of deaths over the past few years.

“Many young people have died because of these new synthetic drugs. It has become an urgent social problem, requiring an increase in preventive measures and efforts to crack down,” Tsai said in a keynote address at a conference in Taipei co-organized with the Ministry of Education.

Deaths attributed to use of new synthetic drugs averaged about 10 cases up until 2011, then escalated to 100 deaths in 2017, when the government began implementing programs to combat illegal drugs, which reduced such fatalities to 45 last year, he said.

Citing data from the Ministry of Justice’s Institute of Forensic Medicine, Tsai said that in 2011, there was an average of 1.9 varieties of the drugs in fatalities, which rose to an average of 4.6 varieties over the past few years, with 10 different synthetic drugs found in one body last year.    [FULL  STORY]

Higher deductions to lighten taxpayers’ burdens: Finance ministry

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 30 May, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

The finance ministry says taxpayers will notice a lighter burden when they file their 2018 income tax returns.

The finance ministry says that taxpayers are set to feel a lighter burden as they file their 2018 personal income tax returns. That’s as the government makes changes to four major tax deductions.

Tax authorities are raising the amount people can deduct when they claim these deductions. The goal is to take pressure off low- and medium-income households and households with children.

The deadline to file is May 31. The finance ministry says that as of Wednesday, 86% of Taiwan’s 6.3 million taxable households have already done so.    [FULL  STORY]

Challenges Remain Following the Legalization of Same Sex Marriage in Taiwan

Despite the adoption of a new law on May 17, campaigns will continue to legitimize the kind of homophobic discourse that has been so prevalent in Taiwan’s traditional and social media in recent years.  

Taiwan Sentinel
Date: May 30, 2019
By: Dafydd Fell

Usually I do not accept requests to do live in studio TV interviews. Often these interviews are just a minute or two on air but the preparation, travel, waiting and recovery time mean that they are quite stressful and time consuming. However, when I was asked to appear on the BBC’s World News TV to talk about the legalization of same sex marriage in Taiwan, I could not say no. Over the last few years, many of the participants in this remarkable movement have passed through London as speakers but also as overseas students. I found it hard not to be caught up in the euphoria of the moment on May 17.

In the short interview, I tried to stress the historical significance of the legislation. Taiwan became the first country in Asia to do this, ahead of Japan and South Korea. This puts Taiwan in the same category as mainly West European countries that have legalized same-sex marriage. I also reminded the host that we only passed this legislation five years ago in the U.K. It was also important to note that this had been a long and painful struggle. Many of the activists have been victims of physical and emotional bullying and there have been martyrs. I wanted to stress why Taiwan has been able to move forward faster than its neighbors. Here the role of civil society as well as party politics has been critical. Without the 2014 Sunflower Movement and the change of ruling parties in 2016, I think we would still be some way off legalization. I also reflected on how the news will be received in the region. While it will be a boost to those fighting for LGBT rights in East Asia, it is unlikely others will follow in the near future.     [FULL  STORY]

Global leaders attend Taiwan International Religious Freedom Forum

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/30
By: Yu-ning Hsu, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

Hsinchu (Taiwan News) – President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Taiwan’s religious freedoms have come a long way, at the Taiwan International Religious Freedom Forum, in Hsinchu on Thursday (May 30).

“Taiwan walked a dark path on the road to religious freedom,” said Tsai. Citing the Kuomintang’s (KMT, 國民黨) ban on local languages and harassment of religious leaders, she attributed Taiwan’s vibrant religious freedom to civil society’s long and unwavering efforts in fighting the former authoritarian regime’s religious restrictions.

“The freedom we enjoy today is built on the blood, sweat, and tears of our predecessors,” Tsai said. “So, we in Taiwan know better than anyone else how precious freedom is.”

Tsai drew a sharp contrast between Taiwan’s religious freedoms and China’s crackdown on Christian churches, in addition to its treatment of Uyghur Muslims and other minorities, which it sends to re-education camps. Tsai said her government will continue to work with civil society organizations, facilitate more international cooperation, and create a truly inclusive and peaceful world.    [FULL  STORY]

Filipina game streamer to meet fans at Taiwan technology show

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/30
By: William Yen

Streamer and cosplayer Charess

Taipei, May 30 (CNA) One of the top rising female game streamers from the Philippines will meet and greet fans Friday at Computex Taipei, one of the world’s leading information and communications technology shows held annually in Taiwan’s capital.

Streamer and cosplayer Charess, noted for her online gaming streams and cosplay, is in Taiwan for the second time to prepare for a meet and greet with fans as a guest cosplayer at Computex Taipei’s Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Friday.

Charess

In an interview with CNA, Charess said that this is her second time in Taiwan following a guest appearance at Computex last year.

Commenting on the cosplay community in Taiwan, Charess said she sees excellence in the country’s cosplay culture and that some of Taiwan’s cosplayers are famous in the Philippines.    [FULL  STORY]

Drivers switch to government program ahead of ‘Uber clause’ implementation

Taipei Times
Date: May 31, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Although the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced earlier this week

Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai, center, speaks at a news conference on Tuesday at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei.
Photo: Hsiao Yu-hsin, Taipei Times

that it would not start fining vehicle rental businesses working with Uber for contravening the soon-to-be-amended Article 103-1 of the Transportation Management Regulations (汽車運輸業管理規則) until October, some former Uber drivers have joined the government’s diversified taxi service program to avoid penalties.

The article, dubbed the “Uber clause,” defines vehicle rental services and taxis as different businesses that are subject to separate regulations, and stipulates that rental firms must charge passengers by hourly or daily rates.

The ministry proposed amending the article after Uber was found to be using its partnerships with rental firms to offer taxi services, which the ministry said would disrupt the market.

The final version of the amendment is scheduled to be approved at a weekly ministerial meeting today and should be announced early next month.    [FULL  STORY]