Global CCS Institute also lists ‘Chinese Taipei Strait’

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/01
By: Matthew Strong,Associated Press

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Taiwanese professor found that an institute in Australia changed the name of ‘Taiwan Island’ on a map in his academic paper to ‘Chinese Taipei Island,’ reports said Saturday.

Chinese pressure has forced multinational companies to remove references to Taiwan as a separate country, while until now, the name ‘Chinese Taipei’ was mostly used at sports events. On November 24, a referendum proposal to change to use the name ‘Taiwan’ for sports failed to gain enough support.

The Global Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Institute, based in Australia, apparently reprinted maps from a 2003 academic paper by Lin Tien-shun (林殿順), now assistant professor at National Central University in Taoyuan City, the Central News Agency reported.

Lin said a friend told him he had found all references to Taiwan changed to ‘Chinese Taipei,’ with even completely apolitical terms like ‘Taiwan Island’ and ‘Taiwan Strait’ being revised to the previously unheard-of ‘Chinese Taipei Island’ and ‘Chinese Taipei Strait.’

The professor said he had written a letter to the chairman of the Global CCS Institute to protest against what he called the grave political interference in academic research.    [SOURCE]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/01
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Romulo Huang

Taipei, Dec. 1 (CNA) Former President Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) condition has stabilized after he suffered a brain hemorrhage but he is still in intensive care for further observation, an attending physician at Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) said Saturday.

Chan Wan Leong (陳雲亮), a physician in the Division of Cardiology, said Lee’s health remained the same as the previous day, and it was still hard to predict whether the former president can be discharged from the hospital next week as originally expected.   [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 02, 2018
By: Huang Chien-hao and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Former Taipei mayoral candidate Pasuya Yao (姚文智) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Friday evening said that he is retiring from politics to produce a documentary about independence activist Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) and hopefully another about democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕).

Yao made the announcement at an event in Taipei to thank his voters.

Yao had vowed to end his political career should he receive fewer votes than two or more candidates in the Nov. 24 Taipei mayoral election.

Of the top three in the five-way race, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) garnered 580,820 votes, or 41.05 percent; the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) received 577,566 votes, or 40.82 percent; and Yao received 244,641 votes, or 17.29 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 30 November, 2018
By: Jake Chen

The works of several Taiwanese comic book artists are being showcased at Anime Festival Asia, one of the biggest regional conventions of anime and comic books which kicked off in Singapore on Friday.

Several Taiwanese artists were present on the opening day, presenting their work in the form of comic books, concept illustrations, posters and merchandise. One artist, who goes by the pen name LOIZA, made an impromptu painting in front of fans.

The convention is set to run through December 2.[SOURCE]

‘New Economy Immigration Bill’ seeks to attract more ‘mid-level’ foreign skilled workers to Taiwan with easier access to APRC

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/30
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Cabinet yesterday (Nov. 29) announced a new draft

act called the “New Economy Immigration Bill” which seeks to provide more incentives for “mid-level” foreign workers, including easier access to permanent residency, to make up for an annual shortfall of at least 110,000 foreign skilled workers, reported Liberty Times.

The new bill would relax the regulations on permanent residency for “mid-level” skilled talent (中階技術人力), including those who have worked in Taiwan for more than six years, graduated high school, have professional certificates, graduated from overseas technical training courses, or other foreigners with mid-level skills. The wages paid to such workers must not fall below the 70th percentile of the average pay in their profession.

The “New Economy Immigration Bill” is aimed at four categories of foreign workers: foreign professionals, foreign mid-level skilled personnel, overseas compatriots, and investment immigrants. Among these groups, the priority will be placed on foreign mid-level technical talent.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/30
By: Chen Yen-chun and William Yen

Taipei, Nov. 30 (CNA) Taiwan pop diva A-mei (張惠妹) will help Taipei count down

the final seconds of 2018 at this year’s Taipei New Year’s Eve (NYE) Countdown Party, the city’s Department of Information and Tourism (DOIT) said in a statement Friday.

Taiwan Hip Hop trio MJ116 and South Korean girl group EXID are also scheduled to perform at the event, which has been an annual celebration hosted by the city since 1995 on the last day of every year.

The performances will be accompanied by the traditional Taipei 101 fireworks when the clock strikes midnight and a light show using a T-Pad LED lighting system on the building’s north side measuring 100.8 by 168 meters.
[FULL  STORY]

Things couldn’t have gone much worse for the DPP in Kaohsiung than they did in 2018.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/11/29
By: David Evans

For 20 years, the city of Kaohsiung has been the capital of deep-Green southern Taiwan. Ever since democratic reforms finally handed the people of Taiwan the right the choose their leaders, they have opted for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidates.

Regardless of which party was governing the country or the status of relations with China, Kaohsiung’s commitment to the ideals and values of the DPP have not wavered. Until now.

In last Saturday’s local elections, KMT candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) defied all odds and predictions to defeat DPP candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) in the race to be mayor. In the end, it wasn’t even close.

While early results had the two neck-and-neck, by the time all the votes had been counted, Han had secured 53.87 percent of the vote to Chen’s 44.8 percent. His margin of victory was more than 150,000 votes.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai Ing-wen says people of Taiwan voted on domestic issues during local elections

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/11/30
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan President Tsai-ing Wen (蔡英文) said the people voted on domestic issues during the local elections on Nov. 24, and that Taiwan’s cross strait policy will remain unchanged, reported CNA.

Tsai said that her administration is open to city and county level exchanges with China, and hopes such exchanges are apolitical.

The comments were made during a reception at the Presidential Office in Taipei, where Tsai met a U.S. delegation including four former senior diplomats; Susan Elliott, Raymond Burghardt, Susan Thornton, and Daniel Russel.

In a speech to the delegation, Tsai said her Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) poor performance in the local elections on Nov. 24 was in part due to public dissatisfaction with her administration’s domestic policies and reform agenda. She added that the DPP is conducting a deep review, and hopes to gain more public support in the future.    [FULL  STORY]