42-year-old unemployed woman was recently found dead, apparently of starvation, in Tainan

Taiwan News  
Date: 2017/10/05
By:  Central News Agency

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) — A 42-year-old unemployed woman was recently found dead,

apparently of starvation, in an apartment in Tainan after her mother — her main source of financial support — died in June and her younger sister refused to support her, according to police.

The woman, surnamed Hsieh, who was once a fashion designer, lost her job about 10 years ago and became financially dependent on her mother, who worked as a domestic helper, according to a Sept. 30 Apple Daily report.

Hsieh was found dead by police when they tracked her to her home to arrest her for failing to appear in court after she got caught shoplifting in late July and early August, according to the report.

When police reached her home on the sixth floor of an old apartment building, they broke in and found Hsieh, dead and reduced to an emaciated state.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/04
By: Liu Chien-pang and William Yen

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) Security is to be beefed up at major Taipei MRT stations, with

police patrols equipped with electric stun guns and pepper spray, the police rapid transit division said Wednesday.

The move is due to concerns about terrorist attacks around the world such as the London tube bombing, the Marseille knife attack and the recent Las Vegas mass shooting, according to a press release issued by the Taipei City Police Department.

Shen Yung-huan (沈永煥), deputy division head of the rapid transit division, told CNA that police sentry posts will be set up at 12 metro stations.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times 
Date: Oct 05, 2017 
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The number of foreign tourists visiting the nation this year can exceed last year’s

record number, despite a weakness in the tourism industry early this year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said during a legislative session on Monday.

A total of 6.87 million tourists visited the nation in the first eight months of this year, a decline of 3.89 percent from the same period last year, but Hochen said there are indications that the situation might improve.

Visits by Chinese tourists had fallen every month from January to July on an annual basis, but the trend reversed in August, when 249,999 Chinese came to Taiwan, compared with 248,538 in August last year, Hochen said.

The minister said he expects to see significant growth in arrivals from Southeast Asian nations thanks to the government’s New Southbound Policy.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 4, 20170
By: Flor Wang

TAIPEI (CNA) – Intensifying northeasterly winds, cooler weather and an obscured

moon are expected Wednesday for the annual Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節), according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB, 中央氣象局).

The northeasterly winds are expected to bring steady rainfall and cloud cover that will prevent people in eastern Taiwan and in areas north of Taoyuan from seeing the full moon that the festival celebrates, CWB forecaster Lin Ding-yi (林定宜) said.

Daytime high temperatures, however, will fall to 29-30 degrees in northern and eastern Taiwan after a period of unseasonably high temperatures over the past few days, Lin said.    [FULL  STORY]

There is an increasing divergence between China and Taiwan with respect to protecting human rights.

The Diplomat
Date: October 03, 2017
By: Margaret K. Lewis

The gulf between legal systems across the Taiwan Strait is far wider than a hundred

miles. Last month, Lee Ming-che — a Taiwanese citizen and human-rights activist — pleaded guilty to subversion charges in China for peacefully expressing political opinions. Today he remains in custody awaiting a decision on his punishment. Lee’s case has heightened already strained cross-strait relations. It has also laid bare the increasing divergence between China and Taiwan with respect to protecting human rights.

In three decades, Taiwan has transformed from martial law to a flourishing democracy embracing international human rights norms. China simultaneously has not only remained under strict one-party rule but also seen a shrinking space for civil society and a crackdown on lawyers who advocate for their clients’ rights. In Lee’s case, he was denied representation of his choosing. His court-appointed lawyer spent less than five minutes questioning his client and failed to present any favorable evidence. Lee’s defense consisted of a well-rehearsed statement of how he had been misled by Taiwan’s media and had only learned the truth about China from watching television programs while held in criminal detention.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-10-03

An emerging plan to reform pensions for military personnel is being designed to

encourage service members to delay retirement.

The Tsai administration has made shoring up the finances of the country’s deficit-ridden pension system a priority. Military personnel are among the professions set to see changes. However, their pensions are being dealt with separately because of the nature of their work.

President Tsai Ing-wen explained plans to reform military pensions in an interview Sunday with Taiwan’s Central News Agency. She said the government hopes to have experienced, trained military personnel serve for longer to keep the armed forces strong.

Tsai said the plan hopes to fill jobs on military bases with retired service members, and to provide skills training so that those who return to civilian life can keep working.    [FULL  STORY]

Activists will mark anniversary of French professor’s death on October 16

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/03
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Gay rights groups reacted with dismay Tuesday to a

statement by Premier William Lai (賴清德) that the legalization of same-sex marriage was unlikely to occur during the current legislative session, while they said they would mark the anniversary of the death of a gay French professor with an event in front of the Presidential Office October 16.

The fall of Jacques Picoux from his apartment, widely believed to be suicide, came amid a depression over the death by cancer of his Taiwanese partner of 35 years.

The incident gave the movement for the approval of same-sex marriages a new impetus, culminating in a Council of Grand Justices decision last May to rule the limitation of marriage to person of different gender invalid.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/03
By: Tsai Chia-lin and Ko Lin

Taipei, Oct. 3 (CNA) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚

文智) expressed Tuesday his aim of getting rid of Taipei’s Songshan Airport and transforming the site into “Taipei’s Central Park” should he be elected as city mayor.

Yao, who is seeking the DPP’s nomination in next year’s Taipei mayoral election, said the plan will serve as the main thrust for his mayoral bid.

A contest organized by Yao was announced that day during a press conference held at the National Taiwan University Alumni Club hall, where members of the public are invited to come up with ideas of what such a park should look like.

The person judged to have submitted the best design plan will be eligible for a cash prize of NT$100,000 (US$3,285).    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 04, 2017
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday denied that there had been a disagreement

between himself and Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) over preferential rules during the Double Ten National Day holiday that waives tolls for drivers using national freeways at night.

Despite the Executive Yuan approving the toll-free scheme for the holiday, Hochen on Monday discouraged drivers from returning to their hometowns using the freeways at night, as the reduced visibility could cause more accidents.

During a question-and-answer session with Lai and Hochen at the legislature yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) commended the Executive Yuan’s toll-free policy, but said that Lai and Hochen had apparently sparred over the plan.    [FULL  STORY]

The Washington Post
Date: October 2, 2017
By: Ralph Jennings | AP

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Police are looking for a final suspect involved in clashes at a

Chinese-organized concert in Taipei between Taiwanese pro-independence protesters and Beijing supporters that revealed divisions over China’s influence on the self-ruled island.

Beijing insists that Taiwan and the Chinese mainland are part of a single Chinese nation and has vowed to take control of the island by force if necessary. It has been stepping up economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan’s government over President Tsai Ing-wen’s refusal to endorse Beijing’s view that both sides belong to “one China.”

The clashes, which injured five at a concert in Taipei, were the latest example of rising tensions. Ties have frayed over Chinese military movements near Taiwan, slowing Chinese tourism to the island and the trial of a Taiwanese activist in China on vaguely defined charges of subversion.    [FULL  STORY]