The USDA will amend their current rule to allow the imports of Taiwanese Orchids dendrobium plant cultivars with cultivation medium

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/31
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service (APHIS) announced yesterday that it is amending its regulations to allow the importation of orchid plants of the genus Dendrobium from Taiwan into the United States making Taiwan the first country in the world to export dendrobium plant cultivars to the U.S.

“We are amending the regulations governing the importation of plants for planting, to add orchid plants of the genus Dendrobium from Taiwan to the list of plants that may be imported into the United States in an approved growing medium, subject to specified growing, inspection, and certification requirements. We are taking this action in response to a request from the Taiwanese Government and after determining that the plants could be imported, under certain conditions, without resulting in the introduction into, or the dissemination within, the United States of a quarantine plant pest or noxious weed” the United States Federal Register said in a published document released on its website.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/31
By: Miao Zong-han and William Yen

Taipei, Jan. 31 (CNA) In the wake of Chinese carriers China Eastern Airlines Corp. and

Xiamen Air canceling planned extra cross-Taiwan Strait flights for the Lunar New Year holiday, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on Wednesday suggested a number of ways for those wanting to return to Taiwan for the festivities.

Both China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Air announced a day earlier that they have been “forced” to cancel plans for 176 additional flights for the Feb. 15-20 holiday because of Taiwan’s delays in approving them in protest over China’s launch of several new routes without consulting Taiwan.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) denied requests from the two Chinese airlines for additional flights to Taiwan that would have used the north-south M503 flight route, as well as the W121, W122 and W123 extension routes, in protest over China’s unilateral decision to launch the routes without first negotiating with Taiwan.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 01, 2018
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Ko says he respects Yao Li-ming’s choice for mayorTaipei Mayor Ko-Wen-je (柯文哲)

yesterday said that he respects political commentator Yao Li-ming’s (姚立明) plan to support Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) if he runs for Taipei mayor this year.

Yao Li-ming, who was Ko’s chief campaign director during the 2014 election, made the remark during a television interview with political talk show host Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) on Tuesday.

“I think Pasuya Yao will be a good mayor,” he said. “Whether he gets nominated by his party or not, if he decides to run for election, I am willing to be his chief campaign director.”

Pasuya Yao responded on Facebook that night that he felt like he “has seen blue skies after rain.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-30

The foreign ministry says it will not violate the United Nations resolution on a case

involving a Taiwanese businessperson shipping coal from North Korea to Vietnam. The UN has imposed sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear tests.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Andrew Lee said Tuesday that Taiwan respects the UN’s actions against Pyongyang. Lee said Taiwan hopes North Korea will abandon its nuclear project to maintain regional peace and stability.

“We are also calling on Taiwanese nationals and enterprises to avoid any financial or commercial dealings with individuals or entities that violate United Nations Security Council resolutions,” said Lee.

Lee also said the judiciary will intervene if anyone from Taiwan is found to have violated the resolution.    [SOURCE]

Crackdown on maps follows action against online country menus

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/30
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Catalogs by Japanese retailer Muji (無印良品) were destroyed

in China because its map inside showed the country’s borders as leaving Taiwan and the disputed Diaoyutai Islands outside, reports said Tuesday.

The crackdown on maps follows a similar witch hunt against websites which listed Taiwan and Tibet as countries separate from China.

The latest target for corrective action by the Chinese authorities included maps which drew Taiwan, Tibet, the Diaoyutai, Hainan and disputed islands in the South China Sea as not being part of China, the Liberty Times reported.

One of the most prominent victims of the new campaign was Japanese retail chain Muji, whose free 2017 Autumn/Winter furniture catalog showed a “wrong version” of the map of Taiwan, in addition to not including the Diaoyutai in China and printing Hainan in a different color from the rest of China.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/30
By: Justine Su and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) The central government’s budget for 2018 cleared the legislative

floor on Tuesday, giving approval for a 3 percent salary increase for public sector employees, among other measures.

The pay raise for government employees, public school teachers and military personnel will be retroactive to January and has been tentatively set to be paid on Feb. 6, said Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民), head of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.

Also getting 3 percent raises are government-financed assistants to lawmakers following the passage of the national budget, according to the Legislative Yuan.
[FULL  STORY]

FACTIONS: Former KMT legislator Pan Wei-kang has compared the government’s probe into the women’s league to the abuses discussed in the MeToo movement

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 31, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Infighting within the National Women’s League surfaced yesterday as members of the

league’s so-called “hawkish” faction urged league members to vote against signing an administrative contract with the government, which would see the organization’s dissolution, at a members’ meeting today.

Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, league Standing Committee member Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) drew a parallel between the online movement against sexual harassment MeToo and a joint investigation by the Ministry of the Interior and the Cabinet’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee over the league’s alleged link to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

“At a time when the world is paying attention women’s rights issues, it is heart-wrenching to see a government led by a female president persecute the nation’s first women’s political group,” said Pan, a former KMT lawmaker.    [FULL  STORY]