Page Three

Taipei film funds wasted: councilor

Taipei Times
Date: May 17, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

New Party Taipei City Councilor Chen Yan-po (陳彥伯) yesterday said that the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs handed out large subsidies for the production of films that were never screened, or those whose box-office showings failed to justify the funding.

Chen presented a list of 24 films made from 2011 to last year that were never shown publicly or were box-office flops at a Taipei City Council question-and-answer session with department Commissioner Chung Yung-feng (鍾永豐).

The movies were subsidized by the Taipei Film Commission, which is overseen by the department.

Two films — Shen Tong (神通) and Sai Mo Dian (賽末點) — were completed in late 2015, but have not been screened, despite each receiving NT$1.5 million (US$49,809) in subsidies, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Heavy rain advisory issued for most of Taiwan

The China Post
Date: May 16, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The plum rain season is in full force — better have an extra sturdy

Bring an extra sturdy umbrella today (CNA).

umbrella.

Most of Taiwan including its outlying islands will see heavy rain or thunderstorms today, according to the Central Weather Bureau.

A heavy rain advisory issued for Tuesday also urges residents to be pay extra attention while driving due to inclement weather. Daytime highs will also drop significantly in the north by an estimated eight degrees.

The weather bureau is also reminding residents across offshore islands and from Central to Northern Taiwan to be wary of high wind gusts on the scale of 8 and 9, with more intense winds likely near the shore.

On the flip side, air quality around the island will range from good to moderate levels.
[FULL  STORY]

Q&A: SurveyCake, the Online Survey Tool for Enterprises

The News Lens
Date: 2017/05/15
By: Olivia Yang

‘We know that we can’t compete with Google in the general consumers’ market, so we

Photo Credit: SurveyCake

are targeting and reaching out to enterprises through doing 2C,’ says SurveyCake founder Alex Liu.

As more online survey tools pop up, one Taiwanese startup is looking to break into the market with a different approach — targeting enterprise clients.

“We could have been the first survey service that had a mobile web page version,” says Alex Liu (劉邦彥), founder of SurveyCake. “We know that we can’t compete with Google in the general consumers’ market, so we are targeting and reaching out to enterprises through doing 2C.”

The 30-year-old is also CEO of another startup, 25sprout, which creates websites and applications. 25sprout has been able to support the development of SurveyCake — its first product — and Liu is now considering separating the two startups. SurveyCake is also one of the startups showcasing in TechCrunch Disrupt NY this year.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei mayor invites the public to participate in Dragon Boat Festival activities

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/15
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) invited the public to

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je invited the public to participate in the 2017 Taipei International Dragon Boat Festival activities (photo courtesy: Taipei City)

participate in the 2017 Taipei International Dragon Boat Festival activities after performing the traditional eye-dotting ceremony for the event at a local temple on Saturday.

During his address following the ceremony, the mayor invited the public to participate in a series of activities, including dragon boat racing, outdoor fairs, egg balancing, and rice dumpling wrapping during the Dragon Boat Festival event at Dajia Riverside Park from May 28 to May 30.

According to the city’s Department of Sports, this year’s dragon boat race will see the participation of 226 teams from the island and abroad, including Ulan-Ude, Singapore, Haifa, Manila, Shanghai, Nanjing, and other cities.    [FULL  STORY]

KMT academics decry military spending

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

President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has failed to realize its promise to meaningfully increase military spending, academics affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) National Policy Foundation think tank said yesterday, criticizing the feasibility of the government’s submarine program and continued recruitment difficulties.

“They only have empty words and are planning to ‘fight tigers with their bare hands,’” the foundation’s National Security Division convener Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said, criticizing the administration for cutting NT$10.3 billion (US$342 million) from the military investment budget this year, bringing it to NT$88 billion.

While flagship programs such as developing an indigenous submarine deserve support, there are serious concerns about their feasibility, he said.

“The government should avoid throwing away money,” he said, adding that major expenditures on the submarine program should be avoided unless US support is guaranteed.    [FULL  STORY]

AIT head celebrates Mother’s Day with old photos

The China Post
Date: May 15, 2017
By: By Joseph Yeh

The de facto U.S. ambassador to Taiwan paid tribute to his mom by posting a 50-

American Institute in Taiwan Director Kin Moy is held by his mother when he was 2 years old in this 1968 photo. (Photo courtesy of the AIT)

year-old photo of him and his mom as the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) celebrated Mother’s Day on Sunday.

In celebration of the day, AIT Director Kin Moy invited colleagues and AIT Facebook friends to pay tribute to mothers everywhere by posting photos of their own mothers and sharing why the photos are important to them.

The AIT represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.

Moy kicked off the online event by posting a photo of him and his mom from 1968.

“I remember when I was young, trying to imagine what my mom might have been like before she had children,” Moy said in his post.    [FULL  STORY]

NCCST: Virus links blocked from government server network

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-05-14

The National Center for Cyber Security Technology (NCCST) said Sunday that they have blocked the links related to a global virus from reaching the government’s computer server network.

On Friday, unidentified sources launched a large scale cyber-attack using a new ransomware called “WannaCry”. The ransomware targets computers that use Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system. It blocks access to key information in infected computers and demands ransom payments in order to access that information. Europol — the EU’s police organization — has described the scale of the attack as “unprecedented” as it has so far infected more than 200,000 computers in over 100 countries.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan students petition for nation’s WHA inclusion

The petition marks the latest non-governmental efforts calling for Taiwan’s participation in this year’s WHA…

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/14
By: Wendy Lee ,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Students studying at a number of universities in Kaohsiung

(By Central News Agency)

are launching a petition to lobby the World Health Organization (WHO) to include Taiwan in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA).

The 70th World Health Assembly that will take place in Geneva between May 22 and May 31 closed its online registration on May 8, but Taiwan has been left behind and failed to receive an official invitation.

Dr. Tim Armstrong, who heads the WHO department of governing bodies, told reporters on May 12 that the organization ”was not in a position” to issue an invitation for Taiwan to attend this year’s WHA meeting, but added that “negotiations are still ongoing,” and “anything is possible.”    [FULL  STORY]

Detained Taiwan activist’s wife visiting U.S. to solicit help

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/14
By: Evelyn Kao

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) The wife of a Taiwan human rights activist detained in China

(CNA file photo)

and representatives from an international non-governmental organization departed on Sunday for the United States to attend a House committee hearing, at the invitation of a senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has sent an invitation to Lee Ching-yu (李凈瑜), the wife of Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who has been detained for 57 days in China, Chiu Ling-yao (邱齡瑤), secretary-general of the Taiwan Association for China Human Rights and the spokesman for the NGO working for Lee’s release said on Sunday.

In addition to the United States, Chiu said they will also seek support from the European Union and United Nations in their efforts to secure Lee’s release.
[FULL  STORY]

Senator slams ‘petty and reckless’ China over WHA

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-05-12

An American senator has slammed China’s government for denying Taiwan an invitation to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA).

Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from the state of Arkansas, called Beijing “petty and reckless” for blocking Taiwan’s attendance at the WHA. The annual meeting of the World Health Organization’s convening body will open in Geneva on May 22. Taiwan has attended the past eight meetings as an observer. This year, however, no invitation has been received. This is on account of Beijing’s boycott of the Tsai Ing-wen administration.

The senator’s full statement, released on Wednesday local time, said, “This shameful episode is petty and reckless, and shows that Beijing will pursue its campaign to isolate Taiwan even at the expense of public health worldwide. Taiwan is fully prepared to play a constructive role on the international stage, which it has proven in numerous other forums, including in past World Health Assemblies. This is yet another reason why we should enhance the US-Taiwan relationship and encourage the world to welcome Taiwan’s contributions to international peace and stability.”    [FULL  STORY]