Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-09-03

Hualien was struck by a strong earthquake on February 6 but it is working hard to bring

back tourists. That’s was the word from Hualien City Government Deputy Secretary General Lee Hong-man in an interview with RTI.

Lee said that Hualien is also promoting the New Southbound Policy which aims to strengthen ties with Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Hualien officials have traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia to promote Hualien as a tourist destination.

He also explained how the eastern coastal city is trying to attract Muslim visitors:
[FULL  STORY]

Have you ever wondered whether you are paying the correct amount in insurance and pension contributions every month? This handy guide will help you find out.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/09/03
By: New Society For Taiwan

Every employee is eager to receive their first wage slip after working in a new job for the first month – but on their slip, they will discover that a percentage of their salary has been deducted for things like labor or health insurance. Because this is mandated by law, many people feel this is normal and do not make a serious effort to check and make sure the amount withheld is correct – nor do they always understand why the money is withheld, and what sort of benefits they receive from paying this tax.

Many employers know this. It is common for employers to meddle with these mandatory, government levied taxes by under-reporting salary amounts, making employees pay fees that should be covered by their company, or not paying employees at all – all of which save costs for employers, but violate the rights of employees.    [FULL  STORY]

The Guam Daily Post
Date: September 2, 2018
By: Reuters

“It is not a secret that China would like us and the diplomatic friends of Taiwan to switch to them, but for Palau it is not our choosing to decide the one China policy.”

– Tommy Remengesau Jr., president of Palau
KOROR, Palau – Empty hotel rooms, idle tour boats and shuttered travel agencies reveal widening fissures in the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, which is caught in an escalating diplomatic tug-of-war between China and Taiwan.

Late last year, China effectively banned tour groups to the idyllic tropical archipelago, branding it an illegal destination due to its lack of diplomatic status.

As China extends its influence across the Pacific, Palau is one of Taipei’s 18 remaining allies worldwide and is under pressure to switch allegiances, officials and business people there say.

“There is an ongoing discussion about China weaponizing tourism,” said Jeffrey Barabe, owner of Palau Central Hotel and Palau Carolines Resort in Koror. “Some believe that the dollars were allowed to flow in and now they are pulling it back to try and get Palau to establish ties diplomatically.”

In the commercial center of Koror, the Chinese pullback is obvious. Hotel blocks and restaurants stand empty, travel agencies are boarded and boats which take tourists to Palau’s green, mushroom-shaped Rock Islands are docked at the piers.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/09/02
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Animal Rescue Team Taiwan rescued an injured pup trapped in a gutter in Kaohsiung on Saturday thanks to the intervention of a stray dog, according to a Central News Agency report on Sunday.

The report said the ARTT was about to return to downtown Kaohsiung after releasing neutered stray dogs to the seaside of Yongan District when a black pup ran to the middle of the road, began to bark at the ARTT vehicle, and refused to leave.

Ni Chao-cheng (倪兆成), an ARTT leader, said that he thought the pup was hungry and asking for food, so he and the ARTT volunteers got out of the car and laid dog food on the ground, according to the report. But to their surprise, the pup didn’t eat the food but ran to a thick growth of grass on the roadside and barked unceasingly at the gutter below. Ni and other rescue team members went close to where the dog was and saw another pup trapped in the gutter with its body soaking in water, and the situation was urgent, according to the report.

Rescuers jumped into the gutter and used a dog catching net to rescue the drowning pup, the report said. As injuries were found all over the pup’s body in the initial examination, it was rushed to an animal hospital for treatment, and at this time the black pup, which stopped the car in the middle of the road, was seen running away from the scene and disappeared in the thicket, according to the report.      [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/02
By: Wang Chao-yu and Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) Seven people were swept into the ocean Sunday from a beach in

Nan’ao Township and Neipi beach in Su’ao, both in Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan, two of whom were confirmed dead and four missing, while the seventh washed onshore was injured.

According to rescuers, a couple who were touring a sea cave and the owner of an all terrain vehicles business were swept away by a freak wave near the cave on Mystery Beach in Nan’ao Township.

The body of the husband was found, but his wife and the ATV business owner were still unaccounted for.

Later that day, also on the Mystery Beach, huge waves washed away a mother and her son on an ATV, sparking a search mission which was still ongoing as of 7 p.m.
[FULL  STORY]

Bloc criticises island for ‘cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent’

Date: 01 September, 2018
By: SCMP staff

Lee Hung-chi was executed by firing squad on Friday despite calls from rights groups to abolish the death penalty.

In a statement released after the execution, the EU said it was “unequivocally opposed to the use of capital punishment”.

“It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity,” the statement said.

It added that the EU “looks to the Taiwanese authorities to immediately reintroduce a moratorium on the death penalty”.    [FULL  STORY]

The Sentinel
Date: September 01, 2018

Taipei: Taiwan will manufacture 66 trainer planes by 2026, develop new engines and key components of state-of-the-art fighter aircraft, the defence ministry announced on Friday. The island’s military has commissioned the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation to develop military aircraft as part of its five-year plan to bolster its capabilities, aimed at countering China’s maneuvers in the region, Efe reported.

The company has already begun assembling the first of the 66 airplanes and is planning to conduct ground tests in September 2019 and the first flight in June 2020, the ministry said in a statement. The new aircraft will replace the existing AT-3 aircraft and the American F5-E and F5-F planes. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen launched a programme to modernize the island’s military, which includes an increase in defence spending to 3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, acquiring advanced equipment from the United States and manufacturing submarines, aircraft, ships and missiles in Taiwan. (IANS)
[FULL  STORY]

 

Shine
Date: 2018-09-01       
By: Yang Meiping

Lee Cheng-hung, director of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises in Shanghai,

gets his return note after submitting his application for a mainland residence permit on Saturday morning when a new regulation came into effect.
Lee Cheng-hung, director of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises in Shanghai, became the first Taiwan resident to submit application for a local residence permit on Saturday morning when a new regulation came into effect.

The regulation, allowing residents of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan to apply for residence permits in the Chinese mainland, was announced by the State Council Information Office about two weeks ago.

The new residence permits will enable them to enjoy public services and other conveniences that are basically the same with those of mainland residents.

Residents from the three regions can apply for the permits on a voluntary basis when they have legally and stably worked, lived or studied in the mainland for more than half a year.
[FULL  STORY]