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The women’s league ‘will donate 80 percent of its assets’

The China Post
Date: July 25, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The National Women’s League (NWL) has agreed to donate over 80

Historical photo via 今周刊

percent of its assets to the government for charity use as well as accept public oversight of its operations, the Ministry of the Interior announced Monday.

The announcement, made by Interior Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), marked a significant step forward in the government’s handling of the league.

The Tsai Ing-wen administration, as part of its transitional justice policy, has been looking into the NWL’s funds, a major source of which was the “surcharge for the military” — a form of tax levied on export goods.

The MOI has been requesting that the group explain in detail its handling of funds received from the surcharge, which was intended to get funds for the military.
[FULL  STORY]

Down reactor expected at full capacity by Wed.: Minister

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-24

Economics Minister Lee Chih-kung says he hopes that a reactor at the Third Nuclear

Economics Minister Lee Chih-kung says he hopes that a reactor at the Third Nuclear Power Plant will be able to generate electricity at full capacity by Wednesday. (CNA photo)

Power Plant will be able to generate electricity at full capacity by Wednesday. Lee was speaking on Monday, one day after a cooling system failure prompted a shutdown of the reactor in the early hours of the morning.

Lee said Taiwan’s state-run power company — Taipower — has already fixed the problem and ensured that there have been no radiation leaks. Taipower has also sent an application to the Atomic Energy Council asking for permission to restart the reactor.

The shutdown has occurred during a period of high temperatures in Taiwan, prompting concerns that the nation’s energy supply will be stretched to the limit. Lee says he hopes the reactor can be back up and running by Tuesday morning, and supply 500,000 KWs – or more than half capacity – by noon.
[FULL  STORY]

3 Chinese pickpockets nabbed after stealing NT$100,000 in Taiwan

Three Chinese pickpockets caught after stealing NT$100,000 mainly from Japanese while in Taiwan on tourist visas

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/24
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Three Chinese nationals pickpockets have been caught after

Chinese pickpockets caught in act on CCTV. (By Central News Agency)

pilfering NT$100,000 (US$3,280) from unwitting, mainly Japanese, tourists, during a recent stay in Taiwan on tourist visas, police announced on Friday.

All in their 50s, the three middle-aged men surnamed Liao (廖), Yang (楊), and Gao (高), had come to Taiwan several times from Guilin, in Guangxi Province since 2016 on tourist visas, and primarily targeted Japanese tourists, the police said.

Police received a tip-off that the the trio had been coming to Taiwan for 10-day stints and had most recently entered on July 6.    [FULL  STORY]

China’s DF31-AG missile enhances target range and accuracy: expert

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/24
By: Stanley Cheung and Elizabeth Hsu

Hong Kong, July 24 (CNA) China recently reported on the most recent upgrade to its Dongfeng (East Wind, 東風) ballistic missile series, codenamed DF-31AG, which Hong Kong-based military analyst Leung Kwok-leung (梁國樑) believes has improved range and targeting precision.

A report published on Monday in the military news section of Sina.com, a Chinese online media network (portal), carries several photos of the DF-31AG missile, introducing it as an improved version of the DF-31A.

Leung told CNA that based on China’s latest system of assigning numbers to missiles, the letter “A” represents nuclear warhead, “B” means regular warhead and “G” refers to an improved version.    [FULL  STORY]

Escalation sees Itu Aba allocated howitzers

EMPTY THREAT?The Vietnamese military has dug artillery positions on Sandy Cay, 13km from Itu Aba, but has not yet occupied them with military pieces, an official said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 25, 2017
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The military has given the Coast Guard Administration six 155mm howitzers which it is holding in reserve for deployment on Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island 太平島) if more firepower is needed to bolster the island’s defenses, a defense official who declined to be named said on Sunday.

Itu Aba is the largest naturally occurring landmass in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), some or all of which are also claimed by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.

The coast guard took up the military’s offer to supply heavy guns after reviewing the Ministry of National Defense’s recommendations in April for defending Itu Aba, which is the coast guard’s responsibility, the official said.

The howitzers are to be stored on Taiwan proper and would not be deployed unless nations with military bases near the island decide to undermine the balance of power by reinforcing their garrisons first, the official said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan might not see its first tropical storm of the season after all

The China Post
Date: July 24, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A depression near the Philippines earlier forecast to become the first

The storms that have already developed. (CWB)

tropical storm to affect Taiwan this typhoon season might not do so after all, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Monday.

The bureau had said Sunday there was a possibility the weather system would develop into the ninth tropical storm of the season.

But the CWB said today that the latest data showed conditions were unfavorable for the system’s development.

The observation mirrors those from European and Japanese forecasters, though the U.S. weather station still believes there is a chance of the depression becoming a storm.    [FULL  STORY]

MOTC mulls vehicle tests after cement truck smash

HARD LESSONS:A writer said that other nations protect their consumers, but Taiwanese learn about vehicle safety by repeatedly conducting experiments ‘with their lives’

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 24, 2017
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The government is mulling the establishment of a new car assessment program, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said yesterday, adding that the Vehicle Safety Certification Center is assessing ways such a program might be enforced.

The ministry issued the statement after the brakes of a concrete pumping truck on Wednesday apparently failed while it was going down Yangmingshan’s (陽明山) Yangde Boulevard, causing it to crash into oncoming traffic, killing four people and injuring nine.

Following the accident, writer Huang Shao-bo (黃邵博) published an opinion piece in the Chinese-language Business Weekly accusing the ministry of not caring about people’s lives.

Huang said that other nations promulgate new car assessment programs to protect their consumers, but Taiwanese learn about the importance of vehicle safety by repeatedly conducting collision experiments “with their lives.”    [FULL  STORY]

Week in Review

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-23

1) One of the top stories from this past week was that seven legislative committees passed a preliminary review of a special budget request for the government’s infrastructure plan.

The initial proposal seeks NT$880 billion (US$28.8 billion) in investment over the next eight years. The money is to be spent in areas such as water management, green energy, light rail infrastructure, and digital development. The spending proposal has been met with a strong pushback – both verbal and physical — from the opposition KMT.

Lawmakers from the ruling DPP and the KMT reached a consensus earlier this month to halve the budget to NT$420 billion (US$13.7 billion) and shorten the implementation period from eight to four years.    [FULL  STORY]

Up to four meteor showers expected in late July

Late July appears to be the high time for stargazers and photographers to watch meteor showers and Mercury.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/23 17:32
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — There will be three to four meteor showers in late July, and

A shooting star. (Source: Pexels)

people may be able to see them in vast suburban areas with little light pollution, said Taipei Astronomical Museum (台北天文館).

The museum said that there are typically several meteor showers in July every year, including those of Eta Aquarids, Piscis Austrinus, and Alpha Capricornids. The maximum number of showers appears during July 28 to 30, with the average estimated to be 10 meteors falling per hour.

In addition, this year there might even be a meteor shower brought by Comet Borisov on July 28 before dawn. The museum said that as there has been no previous observation data, there was no knowing how many shooting stars would appear.
[FULL  STORY]

Century-old Kinmen lighthouse shines again

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/23
By: Wang Shu-fen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) A lighthouse of the island of Kinmen, which was shut down in 1951 after the Chinese Civil War, was lit up for the first time in decades at a ceremony on Sunday and will again guide ships traveling across the Taiwan Strait.

Wuchiu Lighthouse was constructed in 1874 and was damaged in 1948 during the civil war between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China and the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In 1951, Taiwan decided to shut down the lighthouse as part of its military strategy amid tensions with China but continued to carry out routine maintenance work on it.

In 2001, the lighthouse was officially shut down after it was placed under the jurisdiction of the Taiwan military.    [FULL  STORY]