Page Three

Tsai plugs workweek law ahead of Labor Day

The China Post
Date: April 28, 2017
By: Stephanie Chao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Tsai Ing-wen sought support from workers for her administration’s workweek law Thursday, as it remained shrouded in acrimony ahead of Labor Day on May 1.

The new workweek scheme implemented in December mandates that employees get at least one day off every seven days.

The government has said the scheme is aimed at regulating overtime pay, reducing overwork and, eventually, leading to a five-day workweek.

Touting these goals Thursday during the ceremony for a government initiative honoring outstanding employees nationwide, Tsai said she understood that the new law required some time to get used.    [FULL  STORY]

Government promotes plan to build off-shore wind turbines

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-26

Vice-Economics Minister Yang Wei-fuu says that the government plans to build more wind turbines in the Taiwan Strait.

Yang was speaking Wednesday at the 2017 Europe-Taiwan Wind Energy Conference and Workshop. The government is promoting solar panels and off-shore wind turbines to reach its goal of meeting 20% of Taiwan’s energy needs with renewable sources. The government hopes to achieve this target by 2025, with wind power set to account for 3GW of output by that time.

Yang said the government has put in place a four-year plan that aims to attract turbine builders to scout for suitable locations for wind power. The plan also aims to develop these sites into economic zones. He said the plan could attract more than NT$540 billion (US$18 billion) in investment for the wind power sector.

Yang said that more infrastructures must be built in order to achieve the government’s plan. He said that 22 companies have so far applied to join the project.
[FULL  STORY]

MOL rebuts NT$2 billion subsidies for abandoned children of foreign workers

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/26
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Labor rebutted media reports that the government will spend NT$2 billion per year caring for children of foreign workers.

Labor Minister Lin Mei-chu said that MOL has approved a proposal to subsidize institutions or foster homes that agree to look after non-native children left abandoned by their mothers after birth.

According to government data, the number of children born to foreigners — including white-collar workers, students and migrant workers — in Taiwan reached over 7,000 in the period from 2007 to March 2017.

As of Jan. 31, a total of 121 non-native children were settled in social welfare institutions, including 45 whose mothers were unable to be located or who had left Taiwan, the data indicates.    [FULL  STORY]

Minister considers allowing public servants to unionize

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/26
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, April 26 (CNA) Labor Minister Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) said Wednesday that she

CNA file photo

will give serious consideration to a proposal to allow government employees to form workers’ unions.

Responding to a legislator’s question on the issue, Lin said she will discuss the matter with the Ministry of Civil Service (MCS) and other government agencies.

She said, however, that it was debatable whether unionizing was the only solution to the issues raised by opposition Kuomintang Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀).

In a meeting of the Legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, Lee said that public servants, including policemen and firefighters, should have the right to unionize, engage in collective bargaining and take industrial action, like workers in the private sector.    [FULL  STORY]

Lee Ming-che ‘in good health,’ TAO spokesman says

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 27, 2017
By: Reuters, BEIJING

The Chinese government yesterday said that rights campaigner Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who has been detained on suspicion of endangering national security, was in good health and that it had reassured his family in a letter.

Lee is a staff member of Wenshan Community College in Taipei, a former Democratic Progressive Party employee and is known for supporting human rights. He went missing in China on March 19, and Beijing later confirmed his detention.

Lee’s case is still being investigated, Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

“At present, Lee Ming-che’s health is good, and there are no concerns about medical care. He has clearly explained the relevant situation to his family in a letter,” Ma said.
[FULL  STORY]

MOFA ‘regrets’ but denies envoy’s Maori king insult

The China Post
Date: April 27, 2017
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Foreign Ministry report into accusations a diplomat called the leader of New Zealand’s Maori community “useless” has said that while the ministry “regrets” the alleged incident, no evidence has been found to support the charges.

Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) last Wednesday accused Kay Lin (林恩真), deputy head of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, of saying Maori King Te Arikinui Kiingi Tuheitia was “useless” and “not supported by Maori people” while within earshot of the king’s chief of staff Rangihiroa Whakaruru. The put-down allegedly took place during a banquet in Taipei last December.

Lin is scheduled to be posted to Australia to serve as Taiwan’s deputy representative there. Chen has called for her to be stripped of the position due to the “inappropriate remarks.”

The Legislature ultimately passed a resolution asking the ministry to probe the allegations and punish Lin should it be confirmed that she made the remarks.
[FULL  STOIRY]

Dioxin scare sees 30% drop in egg sales

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-25

A recent scare over possible dioxin contamination in eggs has seen egg sales tumble

(CNA)

30%. That’s according to the Poultry Association, Republic of China.

The scare was triggered by the discovery of an egg containing more than twice the legal concentration of dioxins during a food safety test. Dioxins are a group of toxic chemicals.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) narrowed down the origin of the egg to three farms in Changhua County, central Taiwan. The farms have been shut down and over 7,000 kg of eggs from the farms have been removed from shelves. Investigators have taken samples of eggs and feed from the suspect farms, as well as samples of water and air from the surrounding area.    [FULL  STORY]

Amazon to establish 1st Taiwan office

E-commerce giant Amazon will set up an office in Taiwan under Global Selling Program

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/25
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, April 24 — An official from Amazon.com, Inc. said Monday that the e-commerce

(Photo courtesy of TAITRA)

giant will set up an office in Taiwan under its Global Selling Program with the aim of better connecting Taiwanese sellers and global buyers.

Cindy Tai (戴竫斐), head of Amazon Global Selling-Asia, told some 700 local business representatives at a forum in Taipei about the program that the move is expected to strengthen the company’s cooperation with Taiwanese service and merchandise providers.

With Taiwan strong in exports and enjoying well-established businesses in design and manufacturing, the partnership should help them reach out further to global buyers, because Amazon can offer them professional e-commerce solutions, Tai said.
[FULL  STORY]

First tropical storm could form within 24 hours: CWB

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/25
By: Chen Wei-ting and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, April 25 (CNA) A tropical depression about 1,900 kilometers away from Taiwan

(Downloaded from Central Weather Bureau)

in the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines has a chance of becoming the first tropical storm in the region this year, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said on Tuesday.

As of 5 p.m. that day, the tropical depression was centered at 13 degrees North and 136.5 degrees East, moving west-northwesterly at a speed of 15 kph, according to the bureau.

Taiwan’s weather, however, will be influenced by an approaching cold front and the northeasterly monsoon rather than by this far-away tropical depression, the CWB said.
[FULL  STORY]

Taoyuan Mayor says no charges for protesters

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 26, 2017
By: Shih Hsiao-kuang / Staff reporter, with CNA

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) yesterday said he would not press charges

National Civil Servant Association president Harry Lee, second left, and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin, third left, attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Shih Hsiao-kuang, Taipei Times

against opponents of pension reform who allegedly broke two of his ribs, because of a belief in democratic politics.

Cheng said on Facebook that he never thought his injuries would attract so much attention.

“I was only there at the legislature on the day of the protest to try to secure a portion of the budget earmarked for the government’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program for my city. It is regrettable that the protesters were so agitated … that they tried to push people around and attack them,” Cheng said.

Cheng said he did not seek medical attention until Monday, when an examination found that his injuries were more serious than he imagined, requiring two to six weeks to heal.    [FULL  STORY]