British ‘pick-up artist’ Explorer Nick records video apology for ‘hurting Taiwan and its people’

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/06/16
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A British YouTuber and self-described “pick-up artist,” who

has uploaded a number of exploitive videos of Taiwanese women he met on the streets of Taipei, yesterday (June 15) recorded a video apology following complaints from his victims and threats from netizens.

Going by the handle “Explorer Nick,” 28-year-old vlogger, Nicholas Coakley is an apprentice of infamous pick-up artist David Bond. Like Bond, Coakley has been accused by some of not receiving their permission to have their faces shown in his videos, such as a woman in Thailand. Bond and Coakley arrived in Taiwan on June 7 to shoot a series of videos purportedly showing them successfully obtaining contact information of Taiwanese women and in some cases implying that they engaged in sex after just meeting.     [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/14
By: Yu Kai-hsiang and Flor Wang

Taipei, June 14 (CNA) Taiwan is continuing to upgrade its self-defense capability to safeguard its sovereignty as China keeps flexing its military muscles in the skies and seas around Taiwan, former Minister of National Defense Andrew Yang (楊念祖) said Thursday.

While China’s military vessels and aircraft have been stepping up their missions to circle Taiwan, Yang said, Taiwan has also been building its self-defense capabilities.

“Taiwan is not a fool, and we will not sit idly by while China tries to unify with Taiwan,” Yang said in an interview on POP Radio.

He said that before making such a move, China would have to assess the political risks and the self-defense strength of Taiwan’s military.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 16, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

If Taiwan wishes to find a balance in its relationship with the US and China, it should

consider whether to adjust its cross-strait policy or make economic concessions to the US, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairman Richard Bush said in an interview that was broadcast yesterday.

Bush, who served as AIT chairman from 1997 to 2002, said in an interview with POP Radio that Taiwan needs to address some serious questions amid shifts in the fundamental reality of cross-strait relations.

“First of all, it seems that China will no longer rely so much on conservative political forces within Taiwan to advance its interests. It seems that Chinese power to intimidate Taiwan is growing. If that is true, which I believe is true, should Taiwan adjust its mainland policy to something significantly different from before? If so, in what way?” Bush said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-06-14

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) is going to begin issuing high temperature

warnings. That’s to help prevent heat-related injuries.

Government statistics show that record high numbers of people have already suffered heat-related injuries this year.

The CWB has worked with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Health Promotion Administration to put a warning system in place.

The bureau says the system will show warning signals in yellow, orange, and red. A yellow indicator warns of an upcoming day with temperatures above 36 degrees Celsius. An orange signal indicates three consecutive days of temperatures over 36, or at least one day with a temperature of 38 or above. A red signal indicates three straight days of temperatures over 38 degrees.

CDC Deputy General Chuang Jen-Hsiang says the centers will also enhance their prevention and treatment of diseases that are more likely to spread under high temperatures.
[SOURCE]

The film is nominated for the ‘Best Screenplay’ award

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/06/14
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – “Long Time No Sea” (只有大海知道) has been nominated for the

Best Screenplay award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, reported CNA.

“Long Time No Sea” is a true story based on the experiences of Director Tsui Yung-hui’s (崔永徽) involvement with the Little Flying Fish Cultural Exhibition dance troupe (小飛魚文化展演隊) and the children of the Yami people (達悟族) from Orchid Island (蘭嶼).

The film tracks the dance troupe’s journey to the National Aboriginal Dance Competition and follows themes of cultural identity and family.

The dance troupe has won national awards and has been invited to perform both nationally and internationally.

All of the actors are local Yami people and the screenplay captures the island’s beauty well.

The film took six years to complete and is Tsui’s first full-length feature film.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/14
By: Liu Te-chan and Evelyn Kao

Bangkok, June 14 (CNA) Three Taiwanese and 16 Thai nationals have been arrested in

Manila on suspicion of telecom fraud, in a joint operation carried out by police from Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines, Thai police said Thursday.

Based on cross-border sharing of intelligence with Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, Thai police in conjunction with their Philippine counterparts raided a residence in Manila from where a call-center scam gang was believed to be working Thursday morning. Police arrested 19 suspects.

The call center was apparently managed by three Taiwanese nationals, while the 16 Thais were engaged in defrauding people in Thailand, Thai police said.  [FULL  STORY]

JUST MORE CUTS: The KMT said conditions on payouts to teachers hired after 1995 were slipped through under the guise of pension reform as a cost-cutting measure

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 15, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

An amendment passed in June last year that stipulates a one-year window for retiring public-school teachers hired after 1995 to claim compensation could prompt a wave of

retirements, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said yesterday, urging the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus to retract the legislation.

The source of contention is Article 34 of the Act Governing Retirement, Severance, and Bereavement Compensation for the Teaching and Other Staff Members of Public Schools (公立學校教職員退休資遣撫卹條例), which, when coupled with measures set out by the Ministry of Education for the pension cuts, would require public-school teachers who were hired after 1995 and meet the conditions for retirement to claim the compensation within one year of the amendments’ implementation — before July 1 next year — or forfeit the compensation.

When pension cuts for public-school teachers were reviewed in committee, the KMT lawmakers urged their DPP peers to retract the draft legislation, as imposing a window for qualified teachers to claim the compensation would be unfair to teachers hired after 1995, when the “new” pension system took effect, KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) told a news conference in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

The US$250-million complex shows the strength of the US commitment to Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/06/13
By Casey Quakenbush

 

With the world’s attention focused a few thousand miles southwest, where President Donald Trump was shaking hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a historic summit in Singapore, diplomats and businesspeople gathered in Taiwan’s capital to mark another kind of milestone.

The U.S. unveiled a new representative office in Taipei Tuesday, establishing a de facto embassy in the self-ruled island amid its escalating tensions with China. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen attended the opening ceremony, where she reaffirmed her government’s commitment to its “vital relationship” with the U.S., Reuters reports.

The American Institute in Taiwan, built over nine years at a cost of about US$250 million, is bankrolled by the U.S. government and staffed by diplomats, effectively making the complex an embassy all but in name. The U.S. severed official diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979 to uphold Beijing’s “One China” policy, which maintains that the breakaway territory is part of the People’s Republic and can be reunified by force, if necessary.    [FULL  STORY]