Navy could soon start process to cancel minesweeper contract

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/06
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Navy sent an emissary to the Kaohsiung branch of the First

Commercial Bank (第一銀行) to demand the transfer of a NT$1.69 billion (US$56 million) in advance payment bonds from scandal-hit Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co. (慶富造船) to the national treasury, reports said Wednesday.

Ching Fu defaulted on a NT$20.5 billion (US$679 million) syndicated loan from state banks for a NT$35.8 billion (US$1.18 billion) contract to build six minesweepers for the Navy.

The affair has since ballooned into a major defense scandal, triggering questions about why a company as small as Ching Fu was allowed to bid for such a major Navy contract, and whether the administration of then-President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was involved in any illegal pressure.

The Navy seized an earlier sum of NT$700 million (US$23 million) late last month.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/06
By: Wang Shwu-fen, Hao Hsueh-chin, Hsieh Chia-chen and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Dec. 6 (CNA) Environmental groups in Taiwan will rally against air pollution Dec. 17 to demand that the central government better address the health hazard.

An environmental protection alliance, including a southern Taiwan alliance against air pollution, the Pingtung Environmental Protection Alliance, a mother’s group for better health, and the Kaohsiung branch of Air Clean Taiwan, held a press conference Tuesday to list their four demands associated with air pollution.

They asked for the fees for air polluters to be raised, for the amount of air pollution state-run companies are allowed to release to be reduced by 50 percent in three years, as well as opposing the burning of coal, and opposing amendments that have been made to the acts regarding air pollution and environmental assessment.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: December 05, 2017

An online open course portal targeting Southeast Asia was launched recently by Taipei City-based

National Taiwan University with the aim of bolstering academic exchanges and people-to-people ties with the region.

According to NTU, the portal was set up in line with the government’s New Southbound Policy. Designed for overseas Chinese in countries covered by the initiative, it will also spotlight Taiwan’s high-quality tertiary education environment, the university added.

Established in collaboration with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand, the portal features select Chinese-language online courses from platforms such as NTU Massive Open Online Courses, NTU OpenCourseWare and NTU Speech. The contents cover a wide array of disciplines like artificial intelligence, Asia-Pacific culture, big data analysis, business and management, Chinese classics, computer programming, economics and social studies.

Highlights include a course on Taiwan and Southeast Asian arts by NTU Graduate Institute of Art History professor Takashi Sakai; a speech on the economy of Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states by professor Yang Chih-hai of National Central University in northern Taiwan’s Taoyuan City; and a lecture on Pacific island peoples and cultures by NTU Department of Anthropology professor Tung Yuan-chao.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-05

Premier William Lai wants the government to attract more foreign investment by relaxing restrictions. Lai

was speaking on Tuesday at an inter-department meeting on the issue.

The economics ministry said Taiwan’s foreign direct investment (FDI) was only 14% of GDP in 2016, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. That was much lower than the world’s average of 35%.

Premier Lai said the economics ministry should expedite amendments to streamline FDI applications. Cabinet spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung spoke on behalf of the premier.
[FULL  STORY]

The Taipei event expects 92,000 visitors

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/05
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The annual Information Technology Month is expected to attract close to a million

visitors to a program dominated by Artificial Intelligence and facial recognition systems at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1 between December 6 and 11.

The organizers say up to 92,000 people are likely to visit the event, according to a report by the Central News Agency.

There will be electronic home appliances which listen to human voices, and a factory where the machines respond to visual impulses controlling the production process.

Facial recognition, AI and robots will interplay to make visitors understand the convenience of modern and future technological developments, the organizers said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/05
By: Chen Chih-chung and William Yen

Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Taiwan has reached eighth place out of 50 countries that took part in an international

comparative assessment of student achievement in reading, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Tuesday.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 international assessment of reading comprehension found Taiwan scoring 559 on average, which advanced the country one place higher in the rankings relative to 2011, the last time the study was conducted.

The study, which is conducted every five years, assesses the reading and comprehension at the fourth grade level of the participating countries and areas.

The PIRLS 2016 rankings found Taiwan to have surpassed the PIRLS Scale Centerpoint score of 500.
[FULL  STORY]

CLEAN COAL? One former chairman of the group said emissions from coal-fired power plants can be cut to about that of gas facilities with the right technologies

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 06, 2017
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

The problem of air pollution has been overexaggerated by some environmental groups and the media,

Taiwan Professional Environmental Engineers Association chairman Hu Ssu-tsung (胡思聰) told a forum yesterday, calling on the government to conduct more careful evaluations of energy and environmental policies.

“The issue of air pollution has raised public concern to a certain level, but whether the problem is really that serious should be clarified,” Hu said.

While many environmentalists keep a close watch on the levels of PM2.5 — airborne particulate matter that measures 2.5 micrometers or less — the key is to analyze its composition and the sources of emissions, he said.

Government agencies, especially the Environmental Protection Administration, should allow the public to access data “that are traceable and verifiable” so that people can deliberate on the risks when choosing from different energy sources, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: December 04, 2017

President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at a commissioning ceremony for a fleet of P-3C Orion anti-submarine surveillance aircraft Dec. 1 in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County. (Courtesy of Office of the President)
The Republic of China (Taiwan) air force commissioned a fleet of P-3C Orion anti-submarine surveillance aircraft Dec. 1 in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County, replacing its Grumman S-2Ts that had been in service for over four decades.

The 12-strong fleet was acquired from the U.S. as part of a US$2.23 billion arms package, with the first P-3C arriving in Taiwan in 2013. According to the Ministry of National Defense, the commissioning ceremony marked a new milestone in the development of the country’s anti-submarine defense capabilities.

In an effort to safeguard the nation’s waters, the air force will work closely with the navy to maximize the effectiveness of anti-submarine defense efforts by sharing air, sea and underwater surveillance information, the MND said.    [FULL  STORY]