The Belize Police have used the donation to purchase motorcycles, body cameras, and other equipment 
 
Taiwan News
Date: 2018/09/29
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) –- To demonstrate Taiwan’s staunch commitment to diplomatic ally Belize, Taipei has provided a donation to the Belize Police Department to assist in the procurement of new law enforcement equipment, reports local media.

Taiwan has delivered over US$500 thousand dollars to Belize Police over the past year, which has allowed for significant upgrade for the department. A ceremony to dedicate the new equipment and express gratitude to the Taiwanese government was held at police headquarters in Belize City on Sept. 28.

At a ceremony attended by the national police department’s top brass, and the Taiwanese Ambassador, Charles K.Y. Liu, 100 police motorcycles and other items were formally put into service to the country’s national police department.

The Ambassador was quoted by a local media outlet.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/29
By: Matt Yu and Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed welcome Saturday to bipartisan support extended to Taiwan by lawmakers in the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who recently cleared the draft Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018.

The passage of the bill Sept. 26 by the committee demonstrated that U.S. lawmakers across party line support and attach high importance to Taiwan-U.S. relations and regional peace and stability, the ministry said in a statement.    [FULL  STORY]

NOT AN ACCIDENT: A source on the election commission said that 182,848 of the signatures on the party’s petition to reduce air pollution were ruled unacceptable

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 30, 2018
By: Chen Yu-fu and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Central Election Commission is to file criminal complaints against the Chinese

Nationalist Party (KMT), which it suspects of forging signatures on a referendum petition to reduce air pollution, a commission official said yesterday.

The commission has determined that there is cause to suspect electoral fraud and officials would convene on Tuesday to decide the proposal’s fate, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The KMT submitted 497,302 signatures for the second phase of the referendum proposal, initiated by KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), but the commission had ruled 182,848 signatures, or 36.8 percent, invalid by Thursday last week, the official said.

More than 2 percent of signatures belonged to dead people, including some who died long before the petitions were signed, the source said, adding that a significant number of signatures were in the same handwriting styles.    [FULL  STORY]

Four new stamp collections showcase Taiwan’s culture, wildlife, and achievements

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/09/26
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Post unveiled four new stamps on Sept. 26, featuring Taiwanese birds, 2018 World Flora Expo, antique porcelain, and commemorative stamp for next year’s year of the pig.

The new stamps will be printed in France and issued by both Taiwan Post and the French postal service, in an act of cultural collaboration.

Taiwan Post said the theme of the new year stamp is “rich pigs,” and is designed to replicate “atmosphere of joy of New Year” by employing gold, plum, and red colors. The year of the pig stamps will be available to buy from Dec. 3.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/26
By: Yu Hsiao-hen and Flor Wang

Taipei, Sept. 26 (CNA) The Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Wednesday

approved an allocation of NT$182 million (NT$4.79 million) to start a government service that will provide short-term relief for primary caregivers.

In a meeting of MOL, the ministry agreed to allocate the money from its Employment Stability Fund to implement a respite care plan proposed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) Sept. 20.

The allocation of NT$182 million constitutes 50 percent of the estimated annual amount to run the plan, which is expected to benefit about 28,000 families in Taiwan, according to Hsueh Chien-chung (薛鑑忠), a section chief in the MOL’s Workforce Development Agency.    [FULL  STORY]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/09/25
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

The Central Weather Bureau has said Super Typhoon Trami could start

affecting Taiwan on Friday. However, as of now, the storm is currently not forecast to make landfall in Taiwan.

Trami is currently located some 1,000 kilometers east of Eulanbi at the island’s southernmost tip and is moving in a northwesterly direction at 12 kilometers an hour. The storm has a radius of 250 kilometers and is packing sustained wind speeds of 190 kilometers an hour, with gusts of up to 234 kilometers an hour.

The weather bureau said that, if the storm continues on its current predicted path, it will begin to veer in a more northerly direction tomorrow or Thursday and move towards the Ryukyu Islands and threaten southern Japan this weekend.

However, the storm’s outer rim is forecast to affect the northern parts of Taiwan from Friday. If Trami continues on it forecast path, it will be closest to Taiwan on Saturday.    [FULL  STORY]

A study of 196 countries over 26 years ranked Taiwan as No. 5 in a study on health and education as they relate to economic productivity

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/09/25
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IMHE) at the University of Washington has published a new study this week measuring human capital which is considered the sum of a population’s health, skill and education as they relate to economic productivity.

Overall, Taiwan was ranked fifth in the world for “expected human capital” indicating a high quality of life and a good standard of educational achievement across the population. Taiwan’s ranking for 2016 increased five spots from number 10 in 1990, which was the first year when data was recorded for the study.

The study surveyed 196 countries over a 26 year period (1990 -2016) and ranked them according to the following criteria, “Expected years lived, Functional health status, Educational attainment, and Learning.”

For life expectancy , Taiwan demonstrates an life expectancy of 43 years for most of its population.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/25
By: Wang Shu-fen and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 25 (CNA) Acting Kaohsiung Mayor Hsu Li-ming (許立明) said

Tuesday at the opening of the Global Harbor Cities Forum that his city is looking forward to sharing knowledge and experience with other international cities during the three-day event.

As a vital industrial center and home to one of the world’s busiest commercial ports, Kaohsiung has long played an important role in the nation’s economic development, Hsu said.

Once known as a port city synonymous with heavy industry and polluted waterways, Kaohsiung has in recent years cleaned up and transformed itself into a lively place filled with green spaces, art centers and entertainment venues, he said.

Amid the current wave of globalization, the acting mayor said, harbor cities are constantly faced with new challenges, and he expressed hope that participating representatives can come up with solutions to the problems and tap new opportunities through exchanges of views at the forum.
[FULL  STORY]