There are plenty of spots in Hualien and Taitung to enjoy flower viewing during the Winter

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/14
By: Duncan DeAeth,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The winter is creeping in across Taiwan, and some people may

not be thrilled about spending the colder months in the city. If so, it’s important to remember that Taiwan is a subtropical island and beautiful all year round. Even though winter is upon us, there are still plenty of places that the flowers are in bloom.

If you are looking for a place to see some beautiful fields of flowers (花海 in Chinese), then here are three spots in Southeastern Taiwan that are good for flower viewing over the winter months.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/14
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Nov. 14 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) made public Tuesday key

points in its proposed reform of military pensions, including setting a minimum monthly pension payment for retired military personnel of NT$32,160 (US$1,065), the same as for civil servants.

Other key points include calculating monthly pensions based on average monthly salary earned in the last 36 months before retirement. Those who served in the military for at least 20 years before retiring are to be entitled to a monthly pension equal to 50 percent of that baseline wage.

The percentage will be higher for those who served in the military longer than 20 years, the MND said, noting that for personnel at the rank of lieutenant-general or lower, the 50-percent pension payment replacement rate will be increased by 2.5 percent for every extra year of service beyond 20 years.    [FULL  STORY]

SECURITY BREACH:  A government tender to upgrade border control systems was given to a firm suspected of using equipment supplied by Chinese firms, a lawmaker said

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 15, 2017
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Judicial investigators on Monday conducted raids and summoned Ministry of the Interior

(MOI) officials in a probe into suspected bribery and bid rigging of government projects, as well as allegations of a security breach in which Chinese companies might have gained access to personal information of Taiwanese.

In an operation jointly conducted by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and the Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption, searches were carried out and 41 people were detained for questioning, mostly officials from the MOI Information Center and the National Immigration Agency (NIA), along with contractors.

Those summoned for questioning included two alleged main figures in the case: MOI Information Center Director Shih Ming-te (施明德), who formerly headed the NIA’s Information Division, and former NIA section chief Chen Ying-chieh (陳英傑).

Of the people brought in for questioning, 17 were listed as suspects and 24 had been questioned as witnesses as of yesterday, prosecutors said.

Shih and Chen were yesterday released after posting bail of NT$1 million (US$33,135) and NT$300,000 respectively.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 14, 20176
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI (CNA) – The United States’ top representative in Taiwan on Tuesday praised

Taiwan’s experience and leadership in the area of women’s entrepreneurship as a Taiwan-U.S. joint workshop on women’s entrepreneurs in the technology sector opened in Taipei.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day workshop titled “Building a Bright Future for Women Entrepreneurs in Tech,” Kin Moy (梅健華), director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), said the U.S. believes Taiwan “has a tremendous amount of experience and leadership to share in this area.” Taiwan is in many ways at the leading edge of women’s empowerment and technology entrepreneurship, Moy said.

“Taiwan recently elected its first female president, it is a leader in LGBT rights in Asia, and it has been at the forefront of technology innovation for decades,” he said.

The U.S. has always remained committed to promoting female entrepreneurship around the world, Moy said, citing the Global Entrepreneurship Summit to be held in India later this month.    [FULL  STORY]

The exhibition in Taipei aimed to improve the condition of human rights in Taiwan and other Asian societies through dialogue about diverse gender issues, but opened questions about equal representation within minority groups.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/11/13
By: Leora Joy

There were lots of ethnic Chinese penises on display at “Spectrosynthesis – Asian LGBTQ Issues and Art Now.”

I didn’t mind that at all — at first.

The exhibit was framed as the first show to exhibit queer Asian art. Curated by Sean C.S Hu (胡朝聖) and backed by Hong Kong collector Patrick Sun and his Sunpride Foundation, Spectrosynthesis coincided with Art Taipei (Oct. 20-23), Asia’s oldest art fair. The show, which ran from Sept. 9 to Nov. 5, aimed to be a timely presentation of LGBTQ art reflective of Taiwan’s progressive values.

The title of the show employs a merging of the the theme of a “spectrum of light” and light as a necessary and “everlasting source of energy” for survival.

Spectrosynthesis was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). This choice was political: Hu was well aware that by exhibiting at a government-run museum like MOCA Taipei, it would mirror the legislature’s attitude towards the LGBTQIA community and its issues.

“In our mind, we hope to push the Taiwanese government to protect equal rights for the LGBTQ community through this show,” said Hu in an interview with Ketagalan Media.
[FULL  STORY]

Netizens explode after government asked to pay each Formosa Fun Coast blast victim NT$12 million

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/13
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese Netizens are fuming after DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-

kang (段宜康) and families of the victims of the disastrous Formosa Fun Coast explosion filed a motion to have the government pay NT$12 million in compensation for each victim of the fire, instead the owners of the venue or the organizers of the event, reports TVBS.

In 2015, colored corn starch was discharged into a crowd of concert goers at the Formosa Fu Coast Water Park (八仙樂園) in Bali District, New Taipei City to create a festive color party, unfortunately the highly flammable dust ignited and scorched over 500 people, resulting in 496 injuries and 15 deaths.

Two years after what is considered the worst mass injury event in the history of New Taipei, victims and their families are still seeking in vain for justice and compensation. Though the organizer of the party,Lu Chung-chi (呂忠吉), was sentenced to five years in prison, he was later set free.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/13
By: Huang Li-yun and Elizabeth Hsu 

Taipei, Nov. 13 (CNA) Japan stopped a drug smuggling operation in its waters in August
with the help of Taiwanese police, officials with Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said Monday, touting the case as a successful example of international cooperation in combating the drug trade.

Acting CIB investigation squad chief Yang Kuo-sung (楊國松) trumpeted the success at a press conference on Monday, at which Japanese police representatives presented the bureau a certificate to express their thanks for the assistance.

According to Yang, the CIB obtained intelligence in April related to a plan to smuggle drugs in waters close to Hitachinaka in Ibaraki Prefecture, with the handover of drugs to come by boat.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
November 13, 20172
By: Yeh Su-ping and Evelyn Kao

TAIPEI (CNA) – President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday praised her envoy to the

2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting for helping leaders of other countries understand Taiwan’s key role in developing regional economic and trade links.

During a meeting with Taiwan’s delegation to the APEC summit and delegation leader James Soong (宋楚瑜), Tsai said Soong greatly helped advance the goals of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy through informal talks with countries targeted by the policy during the summit.

The policy is aimed at forging closer economic and trade ties with countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia, as well as with New Zealand and Australia.

Tsai also thanked Soong for serving as her envoy to the APEC summit for the second consecutive time and thanked the delegation for completing their mission.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/12
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan, CNA staff reporter

Taiwan’s tea industry has faltered in recent decades, plagued by stiff global

competition, a steep fall in the acreage devoted to tea cultivation and the number of people interested in growing it, and quality scandals.

Thomas Shu (許正龍), honored as an “Ambassador of Taiwan Tea” in 2007, has been intent on changing that, hoping to revitalize a sector that to him represents the country’s historical, cultural, ecological, social and economic “backbone.”

In his own eyes, success will not be measured in sales or numbers but rather his ability to keep the industry viable and leave a promising future for the younger generation.

Shu’s years of effort to achieve his rather ambitious goal started with his steadfast commitment to the product itself.    [FULL  STORY]