Page Three

New Southbound Policy does not sideline China: Premier Lin

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/31
By: Miao Tsung-han and S.C. Chang

Taipei, May 31 (CNA) Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said Wednesday that the government’s New Southbound Policy does not seek confrontation with China but rather aims to continue cooperation between the two sides to increase Taiwan’s chances of working with other countries in Southeast and South Asia.

Lin made the remarks while addressing a gathering in Taoyuan of Taiwan business operators based in China who came back home for the Dragon Boat Festival, which fell on Tuesday.

Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) also spoke of joint efforts with China to expand opportunities for Taiwanese businesses.
[FULL  STORY]

Chen Shui-bian summoned for hearing

HEALTHY ENOUGH?A Taiwan High Court judge wants to see if the former president is capable of facing further trials, while Taichung Prison wants answers about an event

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 01, 2017
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter, with CNA

The Taiwan High Court has summoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to appear at a hearing on July 7 for a hearing on whether he is healthy enough to stand trial on several corruption charges that have been suspended on the grounds of his poor health.

The summons was issued after Judge Tseng Te-shui (曾德水) said that Chen, who is on medical parole, might now be well enough to stand trial in several cases, including an indictment for intervening in a string of bank mergers in his “Second Financial Reform” program during 2004 to 2008, his second term in office.

Chen was sentenced to a 20-year jail term for corruption, but was granted medical parole in January 2015 after being diagnosed with dementia and Parkinson’s disease.    [FULL  STORY]

Government expanding coverage of cash crop insurance

Taipei Times
Date: May 31, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Council of Agriculture (COA), which launched a farm produce insurance program last year for pear and mango farmers, is continuing to expand the coverage to include rice this year and bananas next year, an official said Tuesday.

Hsu Wei-wen (許維文), director of the council’s Bureau of Agricultural Finance, said that to date, 164 insurance policies have been issued for pear growers operating on a combined total of 139 hectares. Six policies have been issued to mango growers, covering a total of 4.91 hectares.

Sugar apples, the most vulnerable of all the crops the government plans to protect under the program, are now covered by 92 insurance policies, Hsu said. These policies involve farmers working on a combined total of 51 hectares.

In September, rice will likely be included, with specific aquaculture products such as grouper, along with six types of greenhouse facilities, to be added by year-end, according to the official.    [FULL  STORY]

Lawmakers plan ad hoc meetings for summer

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-05-30

Lawmakers are planning a series of ad hoc meetings over the summer to conclude business after the current legislative session ends.

The Legislature held its last meeting of the session on Friday. The summer recess is officially set to begin on Wednesday. However, lawmakers have already scheduled meetings on several days in June. More extraordinary sessions are expected to follow in July and August.

The June meetings could see bills dealing with transitional justice and pension reform come up for a vote. Meetings in July and August will deal with the budget for the government’s infrastructure program. Premier Lin Chuan is expected to deliver a report on the plan.

It is not expected that legalizing same-sex marriage will appear on the agenda, however. Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled last week that the law must be changed within two years to give same-sex couples the right to marry. However, the court did not specify how the law should be changed.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Red Hippo Band looks for success on Roman streets

The violinist, percussionist and keyboard players spend 10 days in Rome

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/30
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s Red Hippo Band (紅河馬) is looking for success by

The Red Hippo Band in Rome. (By Central News Agency)

performing free of charge on the streets of Rome for ten days, reports said Tuesday.

The three-man band, which consists of violinist Ken Hsu (許茗鈜), keyboardist Sma Wei (魏一傑) and percussionist Rus Ho (何強), sees street performances as a failsafe way of making new international friends and establishing far-ranging contacts.

The biggest problem, according to Wei, was to adapt their music to the audiences, which kept changing as new groups appeared and walked by them or stopped to enjoy the music.

When they saw young people around, they would start playing rock or dance tunes, but when they noticed groups of Asian tourists, they would turn to Chinese-language popular classics.    [FULL  STORY]

Government expanding coverage of cash crop insurance

Focus Taiwan
2017/05/30
By: Yang Shu-min and S.C. Chang

Taipei, May 30 (CNA) The Council of Agriculture (COA), which launched a farm produce insurance program last year for pear and mango farmers, is continuing to expand the coverage to include rice this year and bananas next year, an official said Tuesday.

Hsu Wei-wen (許維文), director of the council’s Bureau of Agricultural Finance, said that to date, 164 insurance policies have been issued for pear growers operating on a combined total of 139 hectares. Six policies have been issued to mango growers, covering a total of 4.91 hectares.

Sugar apples, the most vulnerable of all the crops the government plans to protect under the program, are now covered by 92 insurance policies, Hsu said. These policies involve farmers working on a combined total of 51 hectares
[FULL  STORY]

Tiananmen vigil to feature Lee Ming-che

HELPING HAND:Human rights advocates plan to travel to Europe to seek support for Lee’s release, ideally either next month or in September, the vigil organizers said

Taipei Times
Date: May 31, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

A vigil that is to be held in Taipei to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre is also to draw attention to Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che’s (李明哲) detention in China on charges of “subversion of state power,” the event’s organizers said on Monday.

The vigil is to mention Lee and underline that his case is not isolated, but is one of many amid deteriorating human rights in China, Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Chiu E-ling (邱伊翎) said.

The vigil, organized by the Taiwanese Students Working Group for Promoting China’s Democratization, the association and the New School for Democracy, is to take place in Liberty Plaza between the National Theater and Concert Hall on Sunday.

The organizers said China’s oppression of human rights advocates has not abated 28 years after the massacre, a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing on June 4, 1989.    [FULL  STORY]

Modding dates back to the original black CPU

The China Post
Date: May 30, 2017
By: Kuan-lin Liu

TAIPEI, Taiwan — “Modding” may sound too techy to get your head around, but all it

A modder from Team China begins crafting his build as the countdown for the CyberMods 24hrs challenge begins, May 30. (Arsene Lo, The China Post)

really means is to modify hardware to make it look and function in a previously unintended way.

In fact, as the competitors in TAITRA and CyberMedia’s CyberMods 24hrs competition said, modding has been around for ages, especially back in the day when fancy company-made CPUs and gadgets from Thermaltake, Asus and other industry leaders didn’t exist.

Back then, as noted by Ethan Cooper, a competing modder for Team Australia, all he had was a boring old, black CPU on his desk. The desire to customize and modify this CPU and other computer hardware was what led Cooper and his fellow competitors from the other five teams into the world of modding.    [FULL  STORY]

Police crackdown on illegal gambling ahead of Universiade

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-05-29

Taipei police have begun cracking down on illegal gambling ahead of the 2017

Taipei police officer Cheng Kuo-lung (CNA)

Summer Universiade.

This is the first year that Taiwan has been chosen to host the global sports event for university athletes. It will kick off on August 19 and run through August 30.

Taipei police officer Cheng Kuo-lung said that suspects had used a taiwanlottery betting booth as a cover-up for illegal gambling. The booth collected NT$17 million (US$570,000) in bets since it opened in January this year.

“Ahead of the 2017 Summer Universiade, the police department will crack down on all illegal gambling websites and sports gambling websites,” said Cheng. “[I] want to tell gamblers that your behavior is illegal. Do not break the law and do not take chances.”    [FULL  STORY]

Photo of the Day: Always bet on black

Why is everyone so afraid of sitting on the white tiles?

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/29
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Despite the throngs of passengers in the main hall of Taipei

Everybody is playing it safe and staying on the black tiles at Taipei Station.(By Taiwan News)

Main Station around noon Monday at the peak of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, no one seems to be willing to break the unspoken taboo of sitting on the white tiles, instead preferring to play it safe and stay on the black tiles.

Reminiscent of a photo that went viral a few months ago of the same situation, for some inexplicable reason, there seems to be an unspoken understanding among the vast majority of passengers in Taipei Main Station that sitting on the white tiles is a no-no.

Explanations by netizens for this odd behavior have included: the color black being less conspicuous, which makes people feel safe; the color white being easier to get dirty than black, thus less guilt about sitting on the black tiles; and one theory posits that no one sits on the white tiles because the color white symbolizes death in Chinese culture. Whatever the reason, most people seem to always bet on black.
[FULL  STORY]