Taipei Times
Date: Jul 04, 2017
By: Lin Hui-chin, Wu Liang-yi and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer

The Long-term Care Services Act (長期照顧服務法) might have funding and staffing shortages over the

next decade, Ministry of Health and Welfare documents showed.

The Long-term Care Services Program 2.0 expands state subsidized care for elderly and disabled people, but it also places greater demands on funding and the workforce, a ministry white paper said.

The ministry estimates that the government’s annual long-term care costs could reach NT$73.6 billion (US$2.42 billion) in 2026, more than quadrupling the NT$16 billion spent last year.

Aside from government budget allocations, the long-term care plan relies on supplementary revenue sources, such as tobacco and inheritance taxes, interest income and charity, which may not be stable.

Assuming those revenue flows meet expectations, the fund would have NT$40 billion available annually for the first four years of the 10-year program, the ministry said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 3, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — As climate change turns up the heat across the globe this summer, Taiwan’s

outdoor workers are expected to have a rough time.

The Bureau of Labor Insurance issued a reminder today that workers exposed to heat on the job can apply for insurance payouts if they suffer heat exhaustion or another heat-related injury as a result.

So far, the applications haven’t been rolling in. The bureau said that from 2010 to the end of May 2017, it received just 12 applications for payouts from occupational injury insurance, five of which were from the families of employees who had died.

The government said Taiwan’s labor insurance covers heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke, the symptoms of which include dizziness, a lack of sweating despite strong heat, red skin, muscle cramps, nausea, a fast heartbeat and shallow breathing.    [FULL  STORY]

Apple Insider
Date: July 02, 2017
By AppleInsider Staff

As scheduled, Apple on Saturday local Taiwan time opened the doors to Apple Taipei 101, the company’s latest retail outlet and first location in Taiwan.

Much like the recent Orchard Road Apple store opening in Singapore, customers formed a queue outside of Taipei’s tallest skyscraper overnight for a chance to experience the grand opening festivities. Apple published photos of the gathered crowd to its website shortly after the outlet opened for business on Saturday. The company said thousands of people were in attendance.

Like other recently opened Apple outlets, Apple Taipei 101 features the company’s next-generation design philosophy. Images of the store’s interior, shared by Apple earlier this week, revealed a high-flung lighted ceiling canopying a large salesroom floor outfitted with custom-built wooden display furniture.    [FULL  STORY]

Six films directed by Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien, two prominent Taiwanese directors in the 80s, are coming back to the big screen.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/02
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Six films directed by Edward Yang (楊德昌) and Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢),

two of the most important directors of the New Taiwanese Cinema movement, are to be screened in the cinema and the 2017 Taipei Film Festival (台北電影節) in July.

The six films include:

“That Day on the Beach” (海邊的一天)

“Taipei Story” (青梅竹馬)

“Yi Yi: A One and a Two” (一一)

“Goodbye South, Goodbye” (南國再見，南國)

“Millennium Mambo” (千禧曼波)

“The Assassin” (刺客聶隱娘)
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/02
By: Wu Jui-chi, Chiu Chun-chin and S.C. Chang

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) Customs officials at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport confiscated more than

40,000 Chinese yuan (US$5,900) from two men trying to take the undeclared cash out of the country Sunday, the first such seizure since new anti-money laundering rules went into effect on June 28, officials said.

A 47-year-old man surnamed Wang was found to be carrying 30,330 yuan before boarding a China-bound flight, exceeding the legal limit of 20,000 yuan. Customs officials confiscated the outstanding 10,330 yuan from Wang.

The other incident involved a 44-year-old man surnamed Lin, who was found with 54,900 yuan in cash. The “extra-legal” 34,900 yuan was also impounded.

Both men claimed they did not know about the new rules, but Customs urged the public to “understand the relevant rules” before heading to the airport to avoid falling foul of the customs authorities.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 03, 2017
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

The Tibetan community in Taiwan would be happy to see the Dalai Lama visit, the spiritual leader’s

representative to Taiwan said yesterday.

“There are many groups in Taiwan working to invite the Dalai Lama for a visit that would be purely religious in nature. We see it as a simple matter of making an application,” said Dawa Tsering, chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama — the de facto embassy of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Taiwan.

Tsering was speaking at an event in Taipei celebrating the Dalai Lama’s 82nd birthday, which is on July 6th.

The Dalai Lama is on Thursday to host a celebration at his Choglamsar residence in Ladakh, India, the foundation said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-06-30

The Legislature passed the final reading of a bill to amend the pension structure for political

appointees on Friday.

The amendment includes articles that ensure a minimum monthly pension of NT$32,160 (around US$1,000). It also phases out a preferential 18% pension interest rate and raises the minimum age to start receiving the pension.

President Tsai Ing-wen said Friday that the amendment can save an estimated NT$1.4 trillion (US$47 billion). Tsai said the savings will play a major role in saving the Public Service Pension Fund from bankruptcy.

Tsai also thanked retired public servants and teachers for supporting the government’s reforms to make the nation’s finances more stable.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese audiences were highly impressed with the two-hour performance

Taiwan News
Date: 017/06/30
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Philippine Madrigal Singers, one of the major choral groups based in the Philippines performed their repertoire of classic songs in Tainan and Taipei last week. It has been 17 years since the group’s last performance in Taiwan.

Manila Economic and Cultural Office Chairman and Resident Representative Angelito T. Banayo lauded the group’s display of vocal prowess that evidently impressed the audience that jam-packed the National Concert Hall in the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial grounds.

The singers, led by their choirmaster Mark Anthony Carpio, initially performed at the Pingtung Concert Hall and Tainan Cultural Center, both in the southern part of the island.

They also performed before small audiences at the Taichung Chung Hsing Hall, Taipei Holy Family Church and National Taiwan University.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/30
By: Wang Shu-fen and Lilian Wu

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) Around 3,000 riders of heavy motorcycles are expected to gather outside the

Presidential Office on Saturday to push for the right to ride their big bikes on Taiwan’s national freeways.

Hung Tsung-pao (洪宗寶), who heads a large motorcycle association, said amended traffic management regulations passed by the Legislature in 2012 allow motorcycles over 550 cc to ride on certain sections of freeways at certain times to be set by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

But the law has never been put into effect despite several meetings on the issue by the ministry and a ministry pledge that it would begin a trial run.

Hung said the number of large heavy motorcycles is increasing at around 20,000 per year, but they have no access to the national freeways, which he said was “unfair.”    [FULL  STORY]