Page Three

Taiwan’s life is complicated

The Vindicator
Date: November 12, 2017 @ 12:00 a.m.
By: Todd Franko (Contact)

If you are reading this first thing this morning, I am back again with you in this time zone.

A week ago, as I headed across the globe to Taiwan, it was confusing to describe time and place.

“Confusing” is a fitting way to describe the complicated life of Taiwan – which is what I and 20 other world journalists were invited to experience. (See last week’s column for more of an FYI on this trip.)

Taiwan is a vibrant country that we were invited to experience from the front row of life. We got a show – genuine and gracious; not gaudy and groping.

Yet Taiwan lives in a cloud that is China – its neighbor, its rival, its so-called enemy, its business partner and, essentially, part of its homeland.

China is China, and Taiwan, too, is China.    [FULL  STORY]

Presidential Office pledges to continue improving working conditions

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-12

The Presidential Office has pledged to continue improving laborers’ working conditions. That was the word from Presidential Office spokesperson Sidney Lin on Sunday.

Lin’s comments followed a protest by over 50 groups in front of the Presidential Office in the morning. The theme of this year’s protest was “seeking survival under government pressure.”

Protestors included laborers, students, and immigrants, who said they were angry with the government’s shift toward supporting employers rather than employees. They accused President Tsai Ing-wen of breaking her campaign promises.   [FULL  STORY]

Photographers disappointed by sun alignment that didn’t show

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/12
By: Chen Chi-fong and William Yen

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) A large crowd of up to 1,000 photographers were disappointed by

The horde of photographers and reporters were hoping to photograph the alignment at a photography event organized by the city’s tourism bureau which took them to the inner lanes on Cingnian Road where it meets with Minquan Road and Guanghua Road that were partly closed off for the occasion.

the rain as they waited for a setting sun alignment that never showed on a busy road in Kaohsiung on Sunday.

The setting sun that was supposed to align with the city’s Cingnian Road twice a year, on the first day of Chinese New Year and around Nov. 12, is said to resemble the Manhattanhenge, an event during which the sun, either rising or setting, is aligned with the streets in New York’s Manhattan.

The sun aligning with the road in Kaohsiung Jan. 28 (file photo)

The horde of photographers and reporters were hoping to photograph the alignment at a photography event organized by the city’s tourism bureau which took them to the inner lanes on Cingnian Road where it meets with Minquan Road and Guanghua Road that were partly closed off for the occasion.

At the scene a person said, “What a pity, I came all the way from Nanzih District here but saw nothing,” while another cried into the sky: “My beautiful dream of shooting the sun alignment has just vanished like bubbles!”    [FULL  STORY]

Protest highlights labor rights, land expropriation

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 13, 2017
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

The Autumn Struggle (秋鬥), an annual protest organized by labor rights advocates,

A piggy bank originally used in President Tsai Ing-wen’s election campaign is lodged in barbed wire outside the Presidential Office on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard yesterday as two police officers look on. The piggy banks were thrown by Autumn Struggle demonstrators unhappy with the Democratic Progressive Party government.  Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

yesterday rallied 61 groups as they marched down Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard and shouted their disappointment with the politics of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration.

The protest focused on the rights of local workers, migrant workers and people in education, as well as land expropriation.

Group representatives first voiced their demands at a news conference at the National Taiwan University Alumni Club before starting on a march toward the boulevard at 11am.

Nearly 200 protesters threw plastic piggy banks that were used for President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) fundraising during her presidential campaign toward the Presidential Office Building at the end of the boulevard.    [FULL  STORY]

Premier defends NT$30,000 minimum wage for corporate employees

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-11

Premier William Lai has defended a proposal to set the minimum wage for employees of

(CNA)

multinational corporations at NT$30,000 (US$990). The proposal would cover monthly salaries at multinational companies that are listed on the stock exchange.

On Saturday, Lai spoke about the Cabinet’s recent investigations into five shortages it says are hampering Taiwan’s economy. Lai said the Cabinet found that one of these shortages, a shortage of labor, stems largely from low wages and inadequate working conditions. Lai said raising the minimum wage for employees of multinational corporations would give encouragement to young workers and help Taiwan’s social and economic development.    [FULL  STORY]

HK$216,000 confiscated from a Chinese man at Taiwan’s main airport

The officials left him with roughly the amount equivalent to US$10,000 that travelers are allowed to carry without having to declare it

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/11
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A man of Chinese nationality was detained for carrying

Image courtesy of Taipei Customs by Central News Agency

undeclared cash of about HK$294,528 (NT$1.13 million) on Friday at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, officials say.

The Taipei Customs confiscated HK$216,000 (NT$835,682) from the detainee surnamed Xing (辛) as he was preparing to leave Taiwan on a China-bound flight.

As he had not declared the large amount of money that he was carrying, the officials left him with roughly the amount equivalent to US$10,000 that travelers are allowed to carry without having to declare it.

According to the reports from the Central News Agency, the man said he was carrying that amount of money for business purposes and was unaware of the law that he needed to declare the cash to customs.     [FULL  STORY]

5 earthquakes rattle Central Taiwan in quick succession

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/11
By: Ko Lin

Taipei, Nov. 11 (CNA) Nantou and Yunlin Counties have been jolted five times by

Image taken from Central Weather Bureau’s website

earthquakes on Saturday evening, each measuring above 4 on the Richter scale, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The first quake struck at 7:14 p.m. with a magnitude of 4.4 and was felt across parts of Chiayi and Changhua Counties.

The epicenter of the first earthquake was about 28.8 kilometers south of Nantou County Hall at a depth of 16.8 km, according to the CWB’s Seismology Center.

About one hour later at 8:13 p.m., a second quake rocked Gukeng Township in Yunlin County with a magnitude of 4.2, which was felt in the central Taiwanese county the highest intensity of 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tiered intensity scale. It recorded an intensity of 3.0 in Mingjian Township in Nantou County, which borders Yunlin.    [FULL  STORY]

Legislature to address espionage

SOFT ON SPIES:One legislator’s draft amendment would increase the maximum sentence for espionage from ‘no more than five years’ to ‘at least three years’ in prison

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 12, 2017
By: Tsen Wei-chen  /  Staff reporter

The Executive Yuan and lawmakers are readying draft amendments to the National Security Act (國家安全法), which are to be submitted to the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee for review on Wednesday.

The calls for amendments came in the wake of espionage cases in which rulings were perceived by some lawmakers to be too lenient, triggering concerns about national security.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) and Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) have each drafted punishments for Chinese spies and spies working with China.

Wang’s draft amendment categorizes the receiver of an information leak into “foreign nations,” “China” and “the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] and the People’s Liberation Army [PLA].”    [FULL  STORY]

Asia’s largest cruise ship arrives in Hualien

The China Post
Date: November 11, 2017
By: Lee Hsien-feng and Christie Chen

TAIPEI (CNA) – Ovation of the Seas, Asia’s largest cruise ship, arrived at Hualien Port

Taiwan indigenous peoples perform in Hualien for the arrival of Asia’s largest cruise ship on Nov. 11, 2017. Ovation of the Seas, arrived at Hualien Port on Saturday, bringing over 3,700 international tourists to Hualien City in eastern Taiwan. (CNA)

on Saturday, bringing over 3,700 international tourists to Hualien City in eastern Taiwan.

Weighing 168,666 tons and 347 meters in length, Ovation of the Seas is the largest ever cruise liner to berth at Hualien Port, which has already welcomed eight cruise liners so far this year, said Chang Tzu-ying (張自英), an official from the Taiwan International Ports Corp.’s Hualien branch.

Port facilities have been renovated several months ago to prepare for the arrival of the gigantic vessel, Chang said.

Indigenous dance performances were given at the port on Saturday to welcome the arrival of the ship and the visitors on board.    [FULL  STORY]

TAITRA promotes Taiwan’s medical care in Malaysia

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-10

The Taiwan External Trade and Development Council (TAITRA) hopes to promote the

TAITRA CEO Walter Yeh (middle) promotes Taiwan’s medical care in Malaysia. (CNA photo)

quality of medical care of Taiwan’s hospitals to more people at the Taiwan Expo 2017 in Malaysia.

 

TAITRA CEO Walter Yeh said Friday at the Expo that Taiwan is internationally renowned for the quality of its medical care, and that the country ranks highly for a number of procedures and treatments. He said these include hip operations, artificial insemination, cardiovascular disease treatment, and liver transplants.

Yeh said he hopes the latest promotion will raise the profile in Malaysia of Taiwan’s hospitals.    [FULL  STORY]