ILLEGAL BROKERS: Prosecutors said that 30 Taiwanese who had hired migrant caretakers through the trio’s Web sites would be questioned and could face charges

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 30, 2019
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Three people were yesterday detained for questioning in New Taipei City over allegations

that they illegally acted as employment brokers for “absconding” migrant workers, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) arrested 31 foreign nationals in connection with the case.

Raids conducted in the past few days led to the breakup of “the largest illicit employment broker agency and migrant worker recruitment business in northern Taiwan,” the agency’s Specialized Operation Brigade in New Taipei City said.

An illegal broker agency allegedly run by the trio placed online ads for Taiwanese families looking for home care services by migrant workers, it said.

The three were identified as a 60-year-old man surnamed Chu (朱), his Indonesian girlfriend, whose name was not released, and a 62-year-old man surnamed Hsu (許) who is an acquaintance of the couple.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei is wasting money on naval upgrades.

The National Interest
Date: January 28, 2019
By: David Axe Follow

Taiwan has acquired vertical launchers that could enhance the firepower of its warships. But in pouring precious resources into conventional weaponry such as the Mk. 41 vertical-launch system, Taipei is making a big mistake, one expert argued.

Taiwan has received two sets of Mk. 41 launchers from the United States, Up Media reported in January 2019. Taipei has acquired the license locally to produce additional launchers. The National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology is modifying its Hai Kung 3 surface-to-air missile to fit the launchers, according to Up Media.

The Republic of China government plans to integrate the VLS and Hai Kung 3 with the Taiwanese navy’s new Hsun Lien naval combat system, which is similar to the U.S. Navy’s own Aegis system.    [FULL  STORY]

Tourism Bureau recommends specifically taking the Taiwan Tour Bus and Taiwan Tourist Shuttle

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/28
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau on Jan. 14 issued a warning to travelers about places in Taiwan which will most likely see traffic congestion during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday.

Taking into consideration the traffic conditions observed in popular tourist attractions across Taiwan during Lunar New Year over the years, the bureau predicted that some places and their surrounding areas will most likely see congested traffic conditions during this year’s Lunar New Year holiday.

These places include Jinguashi and Jiufen in New Taipei City, Nanfangao Fishing Port in Yilan County, Bagua Mountain Skywalk in Changhua County; Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County; Alishan, Cinderella High-Heel Church, and Hao Mei Li 3D Painting Village in Chiayi County; Beimen Crystal Church in Tainan City; Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park, and Shanchuan Glass Suspension Bridge in Pingtung County; Liyu Lake in Hualien County; and Beinan Green Tunnel, Sanxiantai Scenic Area, Water Running Up, and Xiaoyeliu Scenic Area in Taitung County.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/28
By: Wang Shu-fen and Ko Lin

Taipei, Jan. 28 (CNA) Chen Chao-long (陳肇隆), a leading expert on liver transplants in Taiwan, said Monday he has agreed to serve as Kaohsiung’s “health care ambassador,” a role aimed at promoting the city’s medical sector to the world.

An honorary superintendent of Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chen told CNA that he was offered the role by Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who asked if he was interested on Jan. 25.

“If it means doing good for Kaohsiung, then I’m up for it,” he said.

Chen’s medical achievements have gained worldwide recognition. He performed the first successful liver transplant in Asia in 1984 and performed the first living donor liver transplant in Taiwan in 1994.    [FULL  STORY]

POLICY REVERSAL: A white paper that Beijing published in 2014 completely contradicts Deng Xiaoping’s vision and reveals China’s desire to ‘control everything,’ Martin Lee said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 29, 2019
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

Hong Kong Democratic Party founder and attorney Martin Lee (李柱銘) yesterday in

Taipei said that Beijing is deviating from the “one country, two systems” framework originally proposed by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) and China’s tight grip on the territory would only discourage Taiwanese from seeking unification.

“Since Beijing issued the 2014 white paper on Hong Kong, it has been implementing the ‘one country, two systems’ framework in a way that completely contradicted [Deng’s] original vision,” Lee told a Taipei news conference held by the Friends of Hong Kong and Macau Association.

Seeing the way the framework has been implemented in Hong Kong, “of course Taiwanese would be uninterested in it,” he added.

While Deng envisioned a system that would allow Hong Kong to remain highly autonomous, the white paper asserts that Beijing has “complete jurisdiction” over the territory, Lee said.    [FULL  STORY]

CoinTelegraph.com
Date: Jan 27, 2019 
By: Adrian Zmudzinski

Police in New Taipei, Taiwan, have arrested fifteen suspects for allegedly running a cryptocurrencyscam that earned them millions of dollars, English-language local media Focus Taiwan reports on Jan. 26.

According to the article, the chief of the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) Li Chi-hsun said at a press conference that the fifteen suspects — including the alleged leader surnamed Lin — have been arrested in two separate raids carried out on Jan. 9 and Jan. 17.

The arrested suspects have been reportedly charged with fraud, and the case has been handed over to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office. The group allegedly defrauded over 30 people in the country of nearly NT$250 million (equivalent to about $8.16 million).

The suspects reportedly promoted IBCoin, an Ethereum (ETH) ERC20 token aiming to be a means of payment for the adult entertainment industry, according to its promotional material. The alleged fraudsters reportedly also publicized the scheme on Facebook, posting pictures of expensive cars and luxurious lifestyles to lure in new victims, Focus Taiwan reports.    [FULL  STORY]

DPP, KMT retain seats in legislative by-elections in Taipei, Taichung

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/27
By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Kuomintang (KMT) candidates declared victory in their race for the legislative seats vacated during last year’s local elections in Taipei and Taichung, respectively.

In Taipei, the DPP’s Ho Chih- wei (何志偉) declared victory Sunday in a legislative by-election for the seat representing Taipei’s 2nd electoral district in Shilin and Datong Districts.

Among Ho’s opponents was independent candidate and the former commissioner of Taipei’s Department of Information and Tourism, Chen Su-yu (陳思宇), who was hand-picked by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). Chen conceded at 5:30 p.m. as she trailed far behind Ho and the Kuomintang’s Chen Ping-fu (陳炳甫), both of whom had garnered over 30,000 votes, while she had received less than 10,000.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/27
By: Joseph Yeh 

Taipei, Jan. 27 (CNA) Taiwan has much to learn from Israel and Germany on how they commemorate the Holocaust as it embarks on the path of transitional justice, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said Sunday at an International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in Taipei.

Chen said Jan. 27 was designated by the United Nations on 2005 as Holocaust Remembrance Day in memory of the day in 1945 when prisoners in the concentration camp at Auschwitz were liberated.

Calling the history of genocide by the Nazi regime as “the darkest chapter in human history,” the vice president said about 6 million Jews lost their lives, and more than a million Roma and Slavs, disabled individuals, homosexuals and dissidents were also murdered as part of the genocide campaign.

As Taiwan is now pursuing transitional justice, it has much to learn from both Israel and Germany in this area, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

STOP USAGE: US officials should also refrain from mentioning the Three Joint Communiques ‘as if they were the Bible,’ former AIT director William Stanton said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 27, 2019
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The US government should forgo all references to “one China” in the context of Taiwan-

related issues and policies, because the term is imprecise and misleading as Taiwan was never part of China, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director William Stanton said yesterday.

Stanton, who headed the AIT’s Taipei office from 2009 to 2012, made the appeal during a speech on Taiwan-China policy in the US at a Taichung luncheon, which was organized by the Tai-Yang Cultural and Educational Foundation.

Taiwan was never part of China and the use of “one China,” which has always meant something different to Washington and Beijing, is inaccurate, misleading and confusing, Stanton said, adding that Washington should no longer say that it has a “one China” policy, as “that does not mean anything anymore.”

The US government should also refrain from mentioning the Three Joint Communiques “as if they were the Bible,” Stanton said.    [FULL  STORY]