Page Three

Fine announced for violating Hsuehshan Tunnel minimum speed rule

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/07
By: Wang Shu-fen and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 7 (CNA) Drivers who travel in the Hsuehshan Tunnel at speeds below the

(CNA file photo)

established minimum of 70 kilometers per hour will be fined up to NT$6,000 (US$196) starting Monday, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said Friday.

Traffic congestion on National Highway No. 5, of which the Hsuehshan Tunnel is a key part, is common on weekends, and some have blamed slow driving in the tunnel for worsening the problem, leading to an increase in the minimum speed there from 60 km to 70 km per hour on March 10.    [FULL  STORY]

MOE seeking more control over foundation

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 08, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

If the draft bill proposing stricter regulations on government-funded foundations is

The office of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, a government-funded foundation, is pictured in Taipei on Thursday. Photo: CNA

passed, the Ministry of Education (MOE) will be able to control a 40 percent stake in the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, Deputy Minister of Education Yao Leeh-ter (姚立德) said yesterday.

In 1989 and 1990, the ministry donated a total of NT$1.42 billion (US$46.4 million at the current exchange rate) to the foundation, whose assets stand at a value of NT$3.62 billion today, Yao said.

However, he said, out of a total 24 seats, the ministry has only one director on the foundation’s boards of directors and supervisors.

According to the draft legislation, a government agency’s stake in a government-funded foundation should be proportional to the funding it provided, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Protests as strike-punishment review starts

The China Post
Date: April 8, 2017
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — An adjudication committee charged to rule on whether the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) had inflicted unfair punishment on railway workers who participated in an industrial activity held its first meeting on Thursday.

Approximately 40 members of the Taiwan Railway Union (TRU) and supporters from other labor unions protested outside the Ministry of Labor on Thursday, demanding that the committee overrule the railway administration’s order to punish workers.

More than 300 TRA employees who failed to show up at work during the Lunar New Year vacation earlier this year received an absenteeism mark on their work records, according to the union. Four absenteeism marks constitute a basis for legal dismissal.

The TRU had filed an appeal against the railway administration’s punishment in mid-January on the basis of the Regulations for Decision on the Unfair Labor Practices.
[FULL  STORY]

No trade-off on Taiwan: US official

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-06

A White House official says the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping of China will not involve a trade-off on the Taiwan issue. Matt Pottinger, senior director of Asian affairs of the National Security Council, was giving a briefing on Wednesday, a day before the two men hold their first meeting.

Pottinger said Trump already reaffirmed the US “One China policy” in a phone call with Xi in February. He said Washington’s “One China policy,” which is different to Beijing’s “One China principle,” is consistent with the three Joint Communiques and obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act. The act forms the cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations in the absence of formal ties.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Eleanor Wang said Thursday that Taiwan welcomes a statement from the US government concerning its commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act. The foreign ministry also said it will keep in close contact with the US concerning the two-day summit meeting.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan-Australia jointly probe ship involved in Green Island oil spill

Taiwan and Australia join arms of ship that caused Green Island oil spill on March 10, 2017

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/06
By: Judy Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) officials

EPA Water Quality Protection chief Yeh Chun-hung reports on Taiwan and Australia’s joint oil spill investigation. (By Central News Agency)

boarded a ship docked in Esperance in southwest Australia on Tuesday, which is the suspected source of a serious oil spill in Green Island on March 10, 2017.

AlthoughTaiwan is not a signatory of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) assisted EPA officials in their inspection of the ship.

This is the first time that the Taiwan government conducted a cross-nation inspection of oil spilling ships, which can be used as an international model for future inspections, said EPA head Lee Ying-yuan (李應元).    [FULL  STORY]

Annual Hakka tung blossom wedding festival set for May

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/06
By: Kuan Tuan-ping and Ko Lin

Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌, left)

Taipei, April 6 (CNA) A total of 88 couples are expected to recite their wedding vows at this year’s Hakka Tung Blossom and Wedding Festival in Miaoli County in May, the county’s Culture and Tourism Bureau announced during a press conference on Thursday.

The wedding event will be part of Miaoli’s annual festival that celebrates white tung blossoms — often described as “April snow” or “May snow” depending on when they are in full bloom, by locals – and part of the cultural heritage of Taiwan’s Hakka community.

The festival is held annually amid much fanfare, with a series of fun activities to promote tourism in Miaoli County. According to the bureau, this will be the twelfth year the wedding ceremony has been held.    [FULL  STORY]

Railways union urges ministry to stand up to TRA

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 07, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

The Ministry of Labor should stand up to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA)

Taiwan Railways Union members demonstrating outside the Ministry of Labor in Taipei yesterday hold placards showing the number of days they took off during the Lunar New Year holiday. Photo: CNA

over the enforcement of labor rules, the Taiwan Railways Union said yesterday, accusing the agency of disrespecting the ministry’s Unfair Labor Practices Adjudication Board.

About 20 union members and labor rights advocates joined the board’s first hearing on the TRA’s response to union members “taking a legal holiday” during the Lunar New Year holiday.

“The Taiwan Railways Administration should wait for the board’s ruling before making any decision. If it continues to mark our members as being absent without leave, even if the board rules to the contrary, that would be tantamount to holding the board’s ruling in contempt,” union president Wang Jieh (王傑) said, criticizing TRA Director-General Jason Lu’s (鹿潔身) statement that the agency would hand out demerits to union members regardless of the board’s ruling.

Union members refused to work during the Lunar New Year holiday to protest the agency’s refusal to consider shift changes, saying they were entitled to time off during the national holiday.    [FULL  STORY]

AEC gives green light for critical upgrading of Wanli nuclear plant

The China Post
Date: April 7, 2017
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) on Thursday approved Taiwan Power Co.’s application to reconstruct a key piece of infrastructure at the Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei’s Wanli District.

The decision came as the nation prepares for peak energy-consumption season and as criticism mounts that the Tsai administration is failing to move toward its promise of a “nuclear-free homeland” by 2025.

Taipower requested permission last August to reconstruct the plant’s spent fuel pool, which could no longer be safely used. These pools are used to store used nuclear fuel assemblies.

The lead-up to the AEC’s decision was closely followed; a denial would have left the unit shutdown over summer, running the risk of brownouts and blackouts.
[FULL  STORY]

Stanford to train Taiwan talent in Silicon Valley

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-05

Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee has signed an agreement with

Working together
Minister of Science and Technology signed the agreement on Tuesday (CNA)

Stanford University to train high tech talent in Silicon Valley. Chen is leading a delegation to the US for a 10-day visit to open up opportunities for Taiwanese professionals to train at key universities and tech companies. The agreement is to work with Stanford, UC Berkeley and 20 innovative companies in exchanges and training talent from Taiwan.

This year, Taiwan’s “Innovative Star PhD Plan” will support 60 PhD students and professionals under the age of 40 to go to Silicon Valley to study artificial intelligence. Chen said he hopes these exchanges can lead to more cooperation in this field and that the beneficiaries will return to Taiwan to contribute to the industry.    [FULL  STORY]

Netizens pick 10 best-looking school uniforms around Taiwan

Daily View compiled a list of the top 10 best looking uniforms

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/05
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As most Taiwanese junior high and high schools require

(Photo courtesy of UniformMap)

students to purchase school uniforms to wear to class, an online website “UniformMap” invites netizens to upload pictures of their school uniform and hold annual uniform contest, encouraging them to vote for their favorite uniform every year.

Internet media outlet Daily View recently analyzed netizens’ discussions on social media and comments made on local media’s Facebook pages, compiling a ranking of the most good-looking uniforms around Taiwan.    [FULL STORY]