Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/15
By: Taiwan Today,Agencies

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) recently

conveyed via its official Twitter account gratitude for the Republic of China (Taiwan) government’s US$500,000 donation to relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Stanley Kao, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S., presented the donation Sept. 12 to Gail J. McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross. The same day, the EAP tweeted a photo of Kao handing over the check, writing “U.S. appreciates Taiwan’s assistance.”

The ceremony at the American Red Cross headquarters in Washington was also attended by James Heller, director of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Taiwan Coordination, and John J. Norris Jr., managing director of the Washington Office of the American Institute in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/15
By: Sophia Yeh and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday expressed her

government’s sympathy to the United Kingdom over the explosion at a London subway station, Presidential Office Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said.

Wu said he delivered the message to British Office Taipei official Andrew Pittman via telephone on behalf of the president, who also stated that the people on Taiwan will always stand by the U.K. in the battle against violence and terror.

According to the BBC, an “improvised explosive device” was detonated on a Tube train at Parsons Green station in southwest London during rush hour, and the blast is being treated as terrorism by the police.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 16, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

The Legislative Yuan should initiate the final steps to abolish the Taiwan Provincial

Government to follow up on a planned elimination of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, protesters said yesterday.

About a dozen members affiliated with the Economic Democracy Union and several other groups protested outside a Legislative Yuan side gate to demand that the Provincial Government’s budget be eliminated during the upcoming legislative session, followed by formal legal amendments to legislate it out of existence next year.

They also called for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to make abolishing the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) a platform plank during the next round of legislative elections.

“We hope to make the sovereign power of Taiwanese collide with our Republic of China Constitution,” union spokesman Chien Nien-yu (簡年佑) said. “Legal changes by the Legislative Yuan can challenge inappropriate constitutional restrictions and create new energy for a new constitution or sweeping reform.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-14

A revised general budget proposal was cleared by the Cabinet on Thursday.

The newly appointed premier, William Lai, reopened discussions on several budgetary matters after he took office last week. The Cabinet has now passed the revised government budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The revision introduced a number of changes. They include the addition of NT$7 billion (US$233 million) in projected revenue which totals NT$1.9 trillion (US$63 billion). The projected expenditure has also seen a slight increase and is set at NT$1.99 trillion (US$66 billion). The largest portion of the expenditure will be spent on social welfare.

One notable change to the budget is the 3% wage increase for public sector workers, which will set the government back NT$18 billion (US$600 million).  [FULL  STORY]

Taipei’s Parks and Street Lights Office announced on Wednesday that it had decided to extend the giant water lilies exhibition at Shuangxi Park to September 30.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/14
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–In light of the popularity of the giant Victoria water lilies,

Taipei’s Parks and Street Lights Office (PSLO) announced on Wednesday that it had decided to extend the exhibition at Shuangxi Park to September 30.

According to PSLO, the exhibition of the giant water lilies at Shuangxi Park has attracted over 50,000 visitors since its opening.

As the water lilies are still in good condition, the PSLO urged the public who have not visited the water lilies should take the last opportunity to appreciate their beauty or wait until next year.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the PSLO also held a photography contest, and winners have been selected. The winning photographs can be found at the site (Chinese).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/14
By: Christie Chen and Xie Yi-ting

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) Seventy-nine films will be screened at the 24th Women Make Waves Film Festival in Taipei in October to celebrate the works of female filmmakers from around the world.

The 79 films, documentaries and animations will be shown at the Spot Huashan cinema at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park from Oct. 13-22.

The festival will open with “Chavela,” a documentary about the iconoclastic life of Mexican singer Chavela Vargas, and close with “The Gulls,” a Russian drama about an unhappy wife who wants to leave her fisherman husband but is afraid of the unknown.

Since long-term care has become a much-discussed topic in Taiwan in recent years, festival organizers said they have introduced a new section this year called “The Entangled Dance,” which screens films about caregivers, care-receivers, their struggles and the intertwined relationships between them.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 15, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

Independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has failed to fulfill his electoral

promises to introduce community care and new crisis management services for mentally ill and disabled people, groups said yesterday.

Representatives of the Taipei Life of Heart Association, Republic of China Mental Rehabilitation Association and several other groups gave failing grades to Ko, saying that he has not provided substantial improvements in home care and community support for families, and has focused instead on new daycare centers.

“We absolutely have not had a sense that service has increased,” Taipei Life of Heart Association director-general Chin Lin (金林) said, citing a lack of “breathing space” for temporary home care services for families of mentally disabled people and of long-term plans to provide government-sponsored care when parents are unable to shoulder the burden.    [FULL  STORY]