Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/16
By: Huang Tzu-chiang and Evelyn Kao

Singapore, Nov. 15 (CNA) Taiwanese celebrity chef Andre Chiang (江振誠), in

collaboration with Chengdu Langqiao Culture Development Co., will launch a food and restaurant project in China next month, according an article posted on Chinese social media Tuesday.

The restaurant will be based in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, and will feature Sichuan cuisine, according to the article posted by the Bridge, which is the name of the collaborative project.

It cited Chiang as saying that the project is not just about launching a restaurant in China but will also allow him to explore the roots of Chinese culture.

Chiang has said that he wants to meet with top Chinese chefs who specialize in different cuisines, explore the soul and DNA of Sichuan cuisine, and share his knowledge with younger generations, according to the article on the site WeChat.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 17, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Diplomatic ties with the Dominican Republic have stabilized following a series of two-way

high level official visits over the past month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Fielding questions during an Oct. 18 legislative hearing, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said the ministry had sought to stabilize relations for some time amid warnings that the Caribbean ally could be moving closer to Beijing.

At the hearing, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) pointed to signs that the Dominican Republic could switch its allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.

Lee visited the Caribbean ally in July and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Maria Liu (劉德立) went there in August and late last month to further strengthen ties, he said at the hearing.   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
By  Central News Agency
Date: 2017/11/16

Taipei, Nov. 16 — Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Thursday urged his Cabinet to make

every effort to get Taiwan into a revised Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal that 11 countries recently proposed.

Bilateral and multilateral regional cooperation is vital to Taiwan’s economic development, the premier said, giving his Cabinet a directive to start preparing for Taiwan’s bid to join the proposed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), according to a Cabinet spokesperson.

The CPTPP is a new framework for cooperation, which top trade officials from the 11 remaining member states of the beleaguered TPP endorsed on the sidelines of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit last week.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-15

The economics minister, Shen Jong-chin, says that Taiwan will take a multi-pronged

approach in its response to regional economic integration.

Shen was responding Wednesday to media questions about the continuing rise of economic integration. This has been pushed forward most recently by moves to create the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Shen said Taiwan’s response will include bilateral and multilateral talks. He also said Taiwan will work to join the CPTPP as well as the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. He said work towards joining these agreements will include talks with member economies and regulatory reforms. Shen said the Legislature is now looking at eight proposed changes to regulations.

Shen also said that APEC will serve as another prong in Taiwan’s efforts to adapt to growing economic integration.    [SOURCE]

Discovery Hotel, which is located near Magong Harbor in Taiwan’s offshore county of Penghu and currently still under construction, is recruiting employees for its scheduled opening in the spring of 2018.

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/15
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Ever Rich D.F.S. Corporation’s Discovery Hotel, which is located

near Magong Harbor on Taiwan’s Penghu Islands and currently still under construction, is recruiting employees for its scheduled opening in the spring of 2018.

The Discovery Hotel and the company’s Profound Duty Free Shop jointly held a recruiting activity at Penghu Youth Activity Center on Tuesday, reportedly attracting more than 200 job candidates. According to Profound Duty Free Shop website, the hotel and the duty free shop wished to hire 150 people to fill up various vacant positions.

According to the hotel’s description on the 104 Job Bank, the hotel will have 236 guest rooms, including 20 villas and the archipelago’s only Presidential Suite, with room area ranging from 13 pings to 70 pings. A ping is equal to 3.305 square meters.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/15
By: Liu Chien-pang and Christie Chen

Taipei, Nov. 15 (CNA) Starting next October, a permit will be required for the business of

selling, breeding or boarding cats, and failure to comply will result in a fine and suspension of operations, the Taipei City Animal Protection Office said Wednesday.

The new rules will take effect Oct. 17 next year, following last month’s revision of the Regulations for Particular Animal Industry Management to include cats.

Prior to the amendment, only dogs were covered under the regulations, but due to a recent sharp increase in the number of cats registered as pets in Taiwan, it has become necessary to include cats, the office said.

According to its statistics, there are 30-40 cat hotels and pet shops that sell cats in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 16, 2017
By: Su Fang-ho and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Deputy Chief of Staff Chen Pao-yu (陳寶餘) yesterday denied allegations that the military

had fabricated financial reports in connection to Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船), vowing to resign if any officer is found guilty of wrongdoing.

Chen made the remarks during a heated exchange with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) at a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee.

The shipbuilder was contracted to build minesweepers for the navy and is under criminal investigation for allegedly taking out fraudulent loans from a consortium of state-owned banks.

Ching Fu’s top executives told Kaohsiung Marine Bureau Director-General Wang Tuan-jen (王端仁) on Oct. 7 last year that the shipbuilder obtained payments for hull casting ahead of schedule after lobbying the Presidential Office, KMT lawmakers said.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 15, 2017
By: Chen Cheng-wei and William Yen

TAIPEI (CNA) – Taiwan should lift employment restrictions and eligibility requirements for

foreign workers to tackle the problem of shortages of professional talent, the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) said on Wednesday.

To that end, businesses should be allowed to employ workers according to their needs, the ECCT said in its 2018 position paper.

Olivier Rousselet (胡日新), ECCT vice chairman & treasurer, said at the presentation of the report that a total of 132 issues were raised in the annual papers, consisting of 84 unresolved matters from previous years and 48 new issues.

Rousselet said 18 percent of the issues raised in last year’s position paper was resolved, and he also praised the Legislative Yuan for passing recruiting and hiring laws for foreign professional talent on Oct. 31.    [SOURCE]

The China Post
Date: November 14, 2017
By: Yeh Su-ping and Evelyn Kao

TAIPEI (CNA) – The Presidential Office on Tuesday dismissed a report by the China

Times that it used its influence to have funds transferred to a financially-troubled naval contractor, and demanded that the Taipei-based daily apologize and issue a correction.

According to the report, which was based on an audio tape obtained by opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), the Presidential Office allegedly pressed the Navy to pay NT$2.4 billion (US$81.12 million) to Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co. (CFS), Taiwan’s largest private shipbuilder, late last year.

The payment was for work done on a NT$34.9 billion (US$1.18 billion) contract Ching Fu won in October 2014 to build six minesweepers for Taiwan’s military. The company is under investigation after defaulting on a NT$20.5 billion syndicated loan.

In a statement issued Tuesday after the report appeared, the Presidential Office denied ever intervening in the case and said allegations of its involvement in the case and putting pressure on the military were clearly fabricated.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-14

Foreign ministry spokesperson Andrew Lee says Taiwan should be included in

mechanisms for dialogue concerning the South China Sea.

Lee was speaking Tuesday, a day after the announcement that China and ASEAN member nations are to begin discussions about a set of guidelines for behavior in the South China Sea.

Lee said that Taiwan is pleased to see parties to territorial disputes in the area hold peaceful dialogue.

Lee reiterated Taiwan’s sovereignty claim to the islands and surrounding waters in the South China Sea, but said Taiwan hopes to work together with other countries in the region on South China Sea issues.
[FULL  STORY]