Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/28
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and William Yen

Taipei, Sept. 28 (CNA) After a hiatus of more than a decade, the first shipment of

Japanese beef landed in Taiwan Thursday night due to the lifting of a ban, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The FDA announced on Sept. 19 the regulations on Japanese beef and beef products imports, officially lifting a long-existing ban.

The ban was enforced beginning in 2003 following the outbreak of mad cow disease in Japan.

According to the regulations, the beef needs to fulfill six provisions, including that it has to be from cows under 30 months of age and from healthy cows that are checked by an official veterinarian.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 29, 2017
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Much-anticipated draft amendments to the three main media laws could be

announced next month or in November, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday, adding that they would address problems caused by rules barring the government, political parties and the military from investing in media outlets.

NCC Chairperson Nicole Chan (詹婷怡) told a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei that the regulations barring investments from political parties, the government and the military are difficult to enforce.

The commission established a taskforce to review the three laws — the Radio and Television Act (廣播電視法), Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) and Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法) — “which are separate and different tools that should be handled differently,” she said.

The commission is considering allowing investments by the three, but their shareholdings would likely be capped at a certain percentage, and neither politicians nor government or military officials would be allowed to control media companies, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 28, 2017

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi will launch a series of promotions to mark its 26th anniversary

starting Oct. 5.

All departments will offer 20 percent off discounts except cosmetics and supermarket, which offers 10 percent off discounts plus other promotional goodies. Any cosmetic purchase reaching NT$2,000 will be rewarded with an NT$200 e-voucher. Shoppers will also get an NT$500 e-voucher for any NT$5,000 purchase in the rest of the department store.

In addition to discounts, dedicated promotional cosmetic packages have long been a highlight in Shin Kong Mitsukoshi’s anniversary events.    [FULL  STORY]

A Chinese woman thanked her rescuers by saying, “Thanks the non-relatives who treated me more like a family member than do my real family members.”
 
Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/27
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—A Chinese woman who got lost for 21 hours in Taroko

National Park in Taiwan’s eastern county of Hualien thanked emergency responders who escorted her back to safety on Tuesday afternoon by saying, “Thanks the non-relatives who treated me more like a family member than do my real family members.”

The 66-year-old woman surnamed Wang was visiting Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑步道) in the national park with a tour group from China on Monday afternoon when she lost contact with the group around 4 p.m.

On Tuesday afternoon, she was found by rescuers and escorted down the mountain trail after missing for 21 hours. She said she joined a seven-day Taiwan tour package and arrived on Sep. 20. While the group was having a short walk on Shakadang Trail on Monday afternoon, she kept walking and taking photos as she had heard that the scenery along the trail is beautiful, unconsciously getting farther and farther into the trail and finally losing contact with the group, Wang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/27
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) Taiwan ranked fifth in the world in 2016 in terms of net

financial assets per capita, also known as private wealth per person, according to Allianz’s latest Global Wealth Report published Wednesday.

The Allianz report, which assesses the financial situation of more than 50 countries worldwide, found that Taiwan’s net financial assets per capita were $92,360 euros (NT$3.27 million), the fifth highest globally.

In the Asian region, Taiwan was second only to Japan, whose net financial assets per capita were assessed at $96,890 euros (NT$3.47 million).

It was Taiwan’s best ranking to date in the Global Wealth Report, which showed that country’s household asset growth rate had tripled to 10 percent since 2015.
[FULL  STORY]

POLITICAL PERFORMANCE:KMT Legislator Alex Fai said the timing of a Presidential Office statement suggested that William Lai and President Tsai were ‘acting out a play’

Taipei Times
Date: Sep. 28 2017
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Premier William Lai’s (賴清德) reaffirmation of his support for Taiwanese

independence is not only leading the nation to the brink of war, it also revealed his scheme to exploit the nation’s official name, the Republic of China, in the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to rename the nation through a constitutional amendment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said yesterday.

“Lai is the premier now, not Tainan mayor, and a Taiwanese premier whose political belief is independence will lead the nation to the brink of war,” KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. “He should get it through his head that the people want prosperity and peace across the Taiwan Strait, not war.”

The premier should have known that his remarks would surely escalate cross-strait tensions, Lai Shyh-bao said, adding that the hoped the government is prepared to deal with the ramifications.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 27, 2017

The era of always-on monitoring when bio-sensing apparel can keep tabs of your bio-

signals in real-time is coming, Frederic Chanay, cofounder and CEO of the Canadian startup OMsignal said in his keynote speech at the 2017 Textile International Forum.

Chanay pointed out that bio-signals such as a person’s heart rate, body temperature, calories, breathing pattern and sleep analysis, etc. are the most valuable data in the always-on digital world. However, bio-signals are most useful when they are medical grade, which many current wearable devices are not available to provide. Bio-sensing apparel is the best source of rich, medical grade bio-signals, he said.

With medical-grade data and algorithms to analysis them, OMsignal clothing can provide electrocardiography and breathing test results on a par with standard medical devices. Chanay pointed out that bio-sensing apparel can make life easier for medical professionals by providing them rich and real-time data of their patients. They can also be highly valuable for professional athletes who can take advantage of the bio-data to enhance their performance.    [FULL  STORY]

App providers are responsible for account loss due to hacking or changes of mobile phones, according to the new rules.
 
Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/26
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – With the aim of improving consumer protection and reducing

disputes over instant messaging apps, the government has mulled new regulations that would hold service providers responsible for the loss resulted from account deletion and hacking, announced the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) September 25.

The new regulations declare that instant messaging services are responsible for consumer privacy and security, which means should there be accounts illegally hacked or deleted, or account loss due to changes of mobile phones, service providers have to restore the accounts and compensate for the loss, including prepayment and virtual products customers have already paid for.

In addition, app providers would not be allowed to disclose consumer information if not necessary, nor could they change terms and conditions unilaterally, said MOEA.

The new law will also require service providers to disclose more company information, such as a dispute resolution mechanism, so that when customers encounter problems related to services and online transactions, they will know how to tackle them or whom to consult with.    [FULL  STORY]