Taipei Times
Date: Feb 08, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Disaster relief funds for people affected by Tuesday’s earthquake in Hualien County

have topped NT$170 million (US$5.81 million) as of last night, as donations pour in from all parts of society.

Cathay Financial Holding Co yesterday announced that it would donate NT$30 million, the highest donation from the private sector as of press time last night.

SinoPac Financial Holdings Co, Sinyi Realty Inc, Hualien’s Cing Peng Hotel, Panasonic Taiwan Co, Chung Hwa Pulp Corp and Wistron Corp donated NT$10 million each.

Acer Inc, Hiwin Technologies Corp and automaker Yulon Group donated NT$5 million each.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: February 06, 2018

A delegation led by Lord Faulkner, deputy speaker of the U.K. House of Lords, recently

wrapped up an eight-day trip to Taiwan aimed at advancing railway and green energy collaboration between the two sides, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“This visit underscores the importance attached by the U.K. to bilateral cooperation in the railway and renewable energy sectors,” the MOFA said Jan. 29, adding that it will contribute to a further deepening of substantive exchanges.

In country until Jan. 31 at the invitation of the British Office in Taipei, the delegation participated in the sixth Taiwan-U.K. Railway Forum, held discussions on renewable energy issues with officials from the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration and attended an experimental concert organized by the Ministry of Culture.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-06

The mayor of the northern port city of Keelung, Lin Yu-chang, says his city is seeking to

do more to help foreign workers feel more at home. The mayor was speaking to RTI on Tuesday.

Lin said many foreign nationals live and work in Keelung, particularly from Indonesia. He said city hall has set up a one-stop window to serve foreign workers, as well as providing talks to provide them with relevant information.

Lin said the city has organized an event to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic festival marking the end of Ramadan, for the past two years. Last year’s event was attended by over 1,000 people, the majority of them from Indonesia.    [FULL  STORY]

If the reactor passes inspection and the request is approved, a vote on reactivation will go to the Nat. Legislature

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/02/06
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On Monday, Feb. 5, the Taipower Company submitted an

application to Taiwan’s Atomic Energy Council (AEC) for authorization to restart a nuclear reactor at the No. 2  nuclear plant in Wanli, New Taipei.

Taipower has asserted that in light of Taiwan’s new energy policies, and increased energy usage during the Winter months, that there may be a looming power shortage facing the country.

In response however, various environmental groups and some legislators have raised their voices in objection that Taipower would even consider such an action.

Ever since the tsunami and resulting nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant that occurred in Japan in 2011, the movement for Taiwan to become a completely nuclear free country has gained considerable momentum, and the DPP led goverment has pledged to have a completely “nuclear-free” Taiwan by 2025.    [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/06
By: Tang Pei-chun and William Yen

Brussels, Feb. 6 (CNA) Taiwanese Lin Chia-wei (林家瑋) emerged Sunday as the winner

of the first edition of the European Guitar Concerto Competition in the Netherlands, after three rounds of contest.

Lin, a 29-year-old classical guitarist from Kaohsiung, was the only Asian in the competition that was held in Groningen Jan. 29 to Feb. 4.

According to competition’s website, the contest was open to guitarists of all ages and nationalities, and participants were required to play one concerto in the preliminary, semifinal and final rounds of the competition.

A student at the Lemmens music conservatory in Belgium, Lin won the first prize, which carried a purse of 3,000 euros (NT$108,780)    [FULL  STORY]

Voice of America
Date: February 05, 2018
By: Reuters

TAIPEI — Taiwan on Monday called on its companies not to carry out any trade with North

Korea in violation of U.N. sanctions and said it was keeping a close watch, after a report found a network of ships supplying petroleum products based in Taiwan.

A confidential report by independent U.N. monitors to a U.N. Security Council sanctions committee, seen by Reuters, said they had investigated cases of ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products in violation of sanctions and that the network behind the vessels was primarily based in Taiwan.

Self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its own, is not a member of the United Nations but says as a responsible member of the international community it is committed to ensuring sanctions are enforced in a bid to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

In a statement sent to Reuters, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said the government had proactively taken part in enforcing the sanctions and that its efforts had been recognized by the United States and international community.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-05

The wife of a Taiwanese NGO worker jailed in China is on her way to Geneva to report on

her husband’s case at a United Nations working group. The woman, Lee Ching-yu, will be speaking on invitation of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

Lee’s husband, Lee Ming-che, was sentenced last year to five years in prison for “subverting state power.” He had traveled to China to share Taiwan’s experience of democratic transformation.

Lee Ching-yu was blocked from flying to China last Tuesday to visit her husband. That was after her permit to travel to China was revoked by Chinese authorities in April of last year.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/05
By: Huang Guo-fang and Ko Lin

Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) At least two people have died and 12 others have been injured in a

traffic collision that occurred in Tuku Township in Yunlin County on Monday, firefighters said.

The accident involved a collision between a minivan and a truck at the intersection of county roads 88 and 103 at around 3:28 p.m., the county’s Firefighting Department said.

The two fatalities, both of whom were women, were among 11 people seated on the truck bed when the accident occurred, according to the fire department.

They were pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s Hospital after a failed attempt to rescue them.    [FULL  STORY]