Radio Taiwan International
Date: 15 May, 2019
By: Paula Chao
Finance Minister Su Jain-rong says that Taiwanese products that the US government
Finance Minister Su Jain-rong
deems to be “made in China” will face high US tariffs.
Su told lawmakers that the United States considers products to be “made in China” if at least 35% of raw materials come from China or 35% of manufacturing takes place on the mainland. [FULL STORY]
ICRT Radio News
Date: 2019-05-15
Railway workers will soon be getting two days off every week.
The Taiwan Railways Administration says it is making the move as its manpower
climbs and to meet workers’ need for more rest time.
The TRA says that it expects to start rolling out the two day off program
starting in July, though some staffers will still be required to be on the
job occasionally on a day off.
Measures to compensate workers for their overtime should be finalized by late
September. [FULL STORY]
The party will not organize debates and exclude smartphone users from opinion polls
Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/15
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Kuomintang (KMT) announced Wednesday (May 15) it will
KMT spokesman Ouyang Long. (By Central News Agency)
use opinion polls without smartphones to select its presidential candidate by July 16 at the latest.
The contenders will not have to engage in televised debates with each other, but will be able to offer their views to the public separately, the Central News Agency reported.
Despite demands by some candidates, the party’s Central Standing Committee decided Wednesday that the nominee for the January 11, 2020 presidential election would be selected by opinion polls only, with no separate vote by party members.
Five polling organizations will be asked to conduct the surveys for at least 3,000 valid responses each, but they will only use landlines to reach respondents, and not smartphones. The issue has recently divided the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) pushing for the inclusion of cellphones, while ex-Premier William Lai (賴清德) has opposed changing the rules while the race is already underway. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/15
By: Yu Hsiang, Liu Kuan-ting, Wen Kuei-hsiang, Yeh Su-ping and Emerson
Lim
Taipei, May 15 (CNA) The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) decided Wednesday to change
Two of KMT’s possible presidential candidates, Chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Terry Gou (right) and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu. CNA file photo
the format of its presidential primary for the 2020 election to a single nationwide opinion poll and to name its candidate by late July.
The KMT Central Standing Committee approved the rules, guidelines and timetable for the nomination process for the 15th presidential election at meeting earlier in the day.
Under the newly adopted rules, the party has dispensed with the part of its primary that comprised a vote only by its registered members.
Instead it will pick its 2020 presidential candidate based solely on the results of a public opinion poll that will be commissioned to five different polling institutions, each with a sample size of not less than 3,000, the KMT said. [FULL STORY]
PERSPECTIVE: Chang Yung-yun has stirred controversy for taking young girls climbing without their parents’ consent, but supporters said the girls went on their own free will
Taipei Times
Date: May 16, 2019
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter
The Taichung branch of the Taiwan High Court yesterday gave transgender cosplayer and mountain climber Chang Yung-yun (張詠芸) a three-year suspended sentence for abducting an underaged girl in 2017, when they spent more than a month in the mountains.
Chang, now 21, is well-known in the nation’s mountain climbing community, earning praise for her skills, physical endurance, outdoor survival instincts and independent spirit.
She is also famous as a cosplayer, adopting and assuming many video game and anime cartoon characters.
Chang was born a boy, named Chun-yu (張峻瑜), who felt trapped in a man’s body. When he turned 18, he had a sex-change operation and legally changed his gender and adopted a female name. [FULL STORY]
South China Morning Post
Date: 14 May, 2019
By: Lawrence Chung
Former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu Li-luan, now seeking the KMT candidacy for a run at the Taiwanese presidency next year, is keen to rekindle the friendship Ma Ying-jeou enjoyed with Beijing a decade ago. Photo: CNA
Taiwanese presidential hopeful Eric Chu Li-luan says he will hold a summit with President Xi Jinping on the island of Quemoy and seek a cross-strait peace accord if he becomes the island’s leader next year.
Introducing his platform for a Kuomintang (KMT) presidency, Chu – the former mayor of New Taipei – said he would seek mutual respect with Beijing instead of the confrontational approach used by incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party.
With 40 per cent of Taiwan’s total exports going to the mainland, Chu said there was a need for Taipei to take steps towards good relations with Beijing.
[FULL STORY]
Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/14
By: Taiwan Today,Agencies
A performer (right) watches a film with an exhibitiongoer during the opening of the Taiwan pavilion “3x3x6” at the 58th International Art Exhibition o
The Taiwan pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale opened May 11, showcasing works by local talent Cheang Shu-lea that explore such themes as gender, sexuality and surveillance.
Organized by Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Taiwan event is running at the 17th-century Palazzo delle Prigioni prison through Nov. 24. It is titled “3x3x6” in reference to a 9-square-meter prison cell monitored by six cameras and comprises multimedia creations by Cheang, the first female artist selected as a solo exhibitor in the nation’s pavilion.
Speaking at the opening of the event, Deputy Minister of Culture Ting Hsiao-ching said that Cheang’s works offer sharp insights into often-neglected issues impacting modern society. Through prompting reflection on timely topics like technological surveillance, the show demonstrates the vibrancy and openness of Taiwan’s art scene, she added.
Created by Cheang in collaboration with Spanish curator Paul B. Preciado, the centerpiece of the pavilion is a multiscreen video installation displaying footage of 10 characters based on people who were imprisoned or ostracized for their gender, race or sexuality. Among the real-life figures used as inspiration for the piece are French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Marquis de Sade. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/14
By|: Huang Huei-min and William Yen
Forestry Bureau Deputy Director-General Liao Yi-kuang (廖一光, back, left) and Kinmen Magistrate Yang Cheng-wu (楊鎮浯, back, right) / Photo courtesy Kinmen County government
Taipei, May 14 (CNA) Forestry Bureau officials under the Executive Yuan’s Council of Agriculture met Kinmen County officials Friday to discuss plans to establish a conservation center for otters in the county this year, with the aim of ensuring the county’s ecological diversity.
Kinmen Magistrate Yang Cheng-wu (楊鎮浯) said he fully supports the Forestry Bureau-backed plans to establish the otter conservation center.
In terms of construction, Yang said that more communication is needed and that integration of resources and consensus among all the relevant offices and departments involved will be the project’s top priority.
Forestry Bureau Deputy Director-General Liao Yi-kuang (廖一光) said the ecosystem of the county can easily be destroyed by invasive species and other factors, hence the need for a proper balance between people’s livelihoods and the county’s development. [FULL STORY]
PREVENTION: The government has launched a program to enhance road quality and asked the six municipalities to elevate the skid resistance rating of surface markings
Taipei Times
Date: May 15, 2019
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
The Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency has asked the six special municipalities to enhance skid resistance for road surface markings to reduce accidents especially during rainy days.
The standard skid resistance rating for road surface marking is set at 45 British pendulum number (BPN), the agency said, adding that motorists could lose control of their vehicles on such roads if the tire tread is not deep enough or the tires are not in good condition.
The agency and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications have created a trial program to enhance road quality, which includes asking transportation department officials in the six special municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung — “to elevate the skid resistance rating of the road surface marking.”
The agency suggested that the skid resistance rating be gradually elevated to 65 BPN for roads in urban areas, and between 50 BPN and 65 BPN for roads in rural areas. [FULL STORY]
