Page Three

Taipei Mayor supports Taiwan President for re-election in 2020

Culture Minister says DPP should nominate own Taipei City mayoral candidate
Date: 2018/05/09
By: Matthew Strong,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As speculation is mounting about the ruling Democratic

Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (center) visiting a temple Tuesday. (By Central News Agency)

Progressive Party’s (DPP) attitude toward this year’s mayoral elections, Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said Wednesday that if he was re-elected, he would not run for president in 2020 but support an eventual re-election bid by President and DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

In 2014, the DPP backed Ko, who ran as an independent and won a landslide victory amid widespread calls for change.

However, for the mayoral elections on November 24, the party has been having second thoughts, with a large number of its politicians calling for a separate DPP candidate.

At the origin of many DPP complaints was a remark by Ko calling the Taiwanese and the Chinese members of one family, a statement for which the outspoken mayor apologized Wednesday.    [FULL  STORY]

Indonesian presidential envoy donates US$200,000 to Taipei City

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/09
By: Chen Yen-chun and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, May 9 (CNA) A special envoy of Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced

Ang Tjeon Ming (翁俊民, second left) and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲, third left)/photo courtesy of Taipei City Department of Social Welfare

Wednesday that he was donating US$200,000 to help disadvantaged people in Taipei City.

Ang Tjeon Ming (翁俊民), founder of the Jakarta-based Mayapada Group and a key player in facilitating trade between Taiwan and Indonesia, made the announcement while accepting an honorary citizen award from Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), according to a statement from the city’s Department of Social Welfare (DOSW).

At the ceremony, Ko thanked Ang for his efforts to promote industrial, education, tourism and medical exchanges between Taiwan and Indonesia and for his donation of US$100,000 to the disaster relief fund in the wake of a deadly magnitude 6.0 earthquake in Hualien in February, the DOSW said.

Ko also said he hoped Ang would help promote similar exchanges with Taipei City, according to the statement.    [FULL  STORY]

Ko apologizes for ‘one family’

Taipei Times
Date: May 10, 2018
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has apologized for his controversial “two sides of the Strait are one family” statement and said that he would support President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) if she runs for re-election in 2020.

Ko’s criticism of Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and his remarks that some feel are “pro-China” have led to speculation that the DPP might choose to run its own candidate for Taipei mayor in November instead of supporting Ko as it did in 2014.

Interviewed on Tuesday by GreenPeace Broadcasting Station host Chen Yue-hsin (陳雨鑫) for a show that aired last night, Ko said he first made the “two sides of Strait are one family” remark at twin-city forum in Shanghai in 2015.

With Taipei set to hold the Summer Universiade last year, Ko said he wanted to “express friendliness” toward China and try to reduce its obstruction, so he repeated it at last year’s twin-city forum.    [FULL  STORY]

Police Warn Against Unlawful Protest Actions

ICRT Radio News
Date: 2018-05-08

Police are once again warning protesters to abide by the law.

Lawmakers are set to review military pension reform bills tomorrow, and
veterans rights groups are planning more protests outside the legislative
compound.

Taipei city police officials say any illegal action on the part of protesters
will be prosecuted severely, especially those who attack police officers or
damage property.

Nine protesters have already been charged with impeding public servants in
carrying out their duties and with injuring them in last month’s protests,
while another 48 have been charged with violating the Social Order
Maintenance Act.

Security will be tight around the legislature and presidential office
tomorrow, with barricades set up to keep protesters out.

Traffic restrictions will be in place on the roads around both compounds.
[FULL  STORY]

Transitional justice committee to get going: Cabinet

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-08

The transitional justice committee is expected to start operations at the end of the

Cabinet spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung appears in this CNA photo.

month. That’s the word from Cabinet spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung on Tuesday. The committee will be tasked with addressing Taiwan’s history of political repression during the martial law period from 1949 to 1987.

The Legislature has approved nominations to the committee. They include former legislator and Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung as the committee’s chair, and Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Tien-chin as vice chair.

The nominations received nearly unanimous support from Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers, who hold 68 of the 113 seats in the Legislature. The main opposition Kuomintang and the smaller People First Party abstained from the vote.  [FULL  STORY]

Measles outbreak in Japan growing more severe than in Taiwan

Cases confirmed in Okinawa, where a Taiwanese airline employee introduced the disease, number 91, and the outbreak has spread to Aichi Prefecture where 17 more cases have been reported

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/08
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A measles outbreak that began in March when an infected man

(Image by Pixabay user DarkoStojanovic)

boarded a flight that routed through Okinawa before landing in Taipei, has continued to spread in Japan, with the local government issuing warnings.

A Tigerair employee reportedly contracted the disease in Thailand before boarding his flight which routed through Okinawa on the return trip to Taiwan, March 29. Initially, most of the reported cases in Taiwan were Tigerair crew members.

While reported cases in Taiwan for 2018 currently number less than 30, the spread of measles in Japan has been much more serious, with 91 cases of the disease confirmed in Okinawa, as of Thursday, May 3.

The Japan Times reports that the outbreak has also spread to Aichi prefecture after a teenager contracted the disease in Okinawa and returned home. Aichi Prefecture has now confirmed 17 cases of measles according to the report.    [FULL  STORY]

Repairs on Taoyuan International Airport taxiway completed early

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/08
By: Wu Jui-chi and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, May 8 (CNA) The east cross taxiway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport

Photo courtesy of Taoyuan International Airport Corporation

reopened for operation on Monday, after repairs were completed about 15 hours ahead of schedule, according to the airport management.

In a statement Tuesday, Taoyuan International Airport Corporation (TIAC) said the taxiway was reopened at 5:30 p.m. on Monday following 9 days of work on a caved-in section.

According to the TIAC, more comprehensive maintenance will be carried out in August on the taxiway but its reopening now reduces the distance planes have to travel to take off and after landing.    [FULL  STORY]

All transitional justice panel nominees OK’d

DISSENT: The KMT caucus abstained from voting, while the four New Power Party members were the only ones voting against the new chairman’s appointment

Taipei Times
Date: May 09, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Lawmakers yesterday approved all nine Transitional Justice Promotion Committee members nominated by Premier William Lai (賴清德).

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers tried to boycott a vote by proposing to send the nominations to a round of cross-caucus negotiations, but Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said there is no precedent to hold negotiations over the investiture of government officials.

After a motion by the KMT caucus to hold negotiations was voted down, Su told Legislative Yuan staff members to set up voting booths, which KMT caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) and Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) pushed over.

The KMT caucus unanimously withheld from voting, while the People First Party (PFP) caucus also abstained.    [FULL  STORY]

Viewers angry after cable providerTBC shuts down FTV News channel 

Formosa News
Date: 2018/05/07

Four days since cable TV provider TBC’s abrupt suspension of FTV’s news channel, TBC viewers across Taiwan are still without access to FTV’s service. Consumer protection offices in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, and Taichung have been inundated with demands for refunds. Officials say that viewers who choose to cancel TBC subscriptions cannot be charged any penalty.

Unable to watch their favorite FTV News, some members of the public are reaching boiling point.    [FULL  STORY]

Education committee passes National Language Development Act

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-07

The education committee in Taiwan’s legislature has passed an initial draft of the National Language Development Act. The wording of the act says its purpose is to “promote the transmission, revival and development of the nation’s languages, in the spirit of respecting the country’s multiculturalism.”

While Mandarin Chinese is the main language spoken in Taiwan, many people speak dialects like Minnan or Taiwanese dialect, and the Hakka language. There are also at least 16 Austronesian languages spoken by Taiwan’s minority indigenous peoples.
[FULL  STORY]