Page Three

Tsai in good health in first checkup since assuming presidency

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/01
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was said to be in good health

CNA file photo

after her first physical since assuming the presidency on May 20, 2016, the Presidential Office said Saturday.

After Tsai completed her physical at Veterans General Hospital, the medical team in charge of her health said the 60-year-old president was 163.5 centimeters tall, weighed 62 kilograms, and had a BMI of 23.2.

Her blood pressure was 138/80, and she had a pulse of 74 beats per minute.

No abnormal signs were detected in blood tests or X-ray or ultrasound examinations, the team said.    [FULL  STORY]

Judicial subcommittee suggests scrapping defamation

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 02, 2017
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

The fifth subcommittee meeting of the national conference on judicial reform met at the Judical Yuan in Taipei on Thursday to discuss decriminalizing defamation, drafting a special law to protect whistle-blowers and government corruption.

The subcommittee also discussed economic crimes, minor offenses under the Criminal Code, and deficiencies in judicial procedure.

The members reached a consensus on decriminalizing defamation, which is codified as public insult, slander and aggravated libel under the Criminal Code.

The decision to decriminalize defamation has to do with protecting free speech and free media, said Taiwan National Chiao Tung University law professor Lin Chih-chieh (林志潔), a leading member of the subcommittee.    [FULL  STORY]

Northern Taiwan snarled by traffic jams at start of four-day holiday

The China Post
Date: April 2, 2017
By: The China Post news staff 

Northbound lanes of National Freeway No. 5 saw serious traffic for most of Saturday as fair weather prompted many people to head east on the first day of the four-day Tomb Sweeping long weekend.

The National Freeway Bureau said traffic was particularly heavy from the Shihding (石碇) ramp to the Pengshan (彭山) Tunnel on the freeway, with driving speed failing to rise to a normal rate until 6 p.m.

Bureau officials said congestion was seen on southbound lanes of other freeways Saturday morning, as people returned to their hometowns in Central and Southern Taiwan for traditional Tomb Sweeping events.

Officials said cars on southbound lanes of several freeway sections had dropped below 40 kilometers per hour as of 11 a.m. on Saturday.    [FULL  STORY]

Premier Lin vows to upgrade iTaiwan by August

Taiwan Today
Date: March 31, 2017

A plan to upgrade the iTaiwan free Wi-Fi service in public spaces and on transportation

Premier Lin Chuan outlines details of the digital component of the government’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Program March 30 in Taipei City. (CNA)

networks such as Taiwan High Speed Rail before the Summer Universiade and World Congress on Information Technology commence Aug. 19-30 and Sept. 10-13 in Taipei, respectively, was detailed by Premier Lin Chuan March 30 in Taipei City.

The project is the first seeking to boost broadband internet access and bridge the urban-rural divide in Taiwan under the NT$46 billion (US$1.49 billion) digital component of the government’s new Forward-looking Infrastructure Program. It involves the installation in 12 THSR tunnels of leaky feeder communication systems, which will emit signals to Wi-Fi routers in each of THSR’s 34 trains.

According to the Board of Science and Technology under the Executive Yuan, the project will give passengers wireless access to the internet using an iTaiwan account.
[FULL  STORY]

Spring Scream roars into Kenting Saturday

The Spring Scream and Spring Break concert festivals are hitting Kenting this weekend

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/31
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Spring Scream, the annual three-day music festival, kicks off

Spring Scream in Kenting (Courtesy Spring Scream Facebook page)

around Eluanbi Lighthouse in Kenting National Park on Saturday.

This year’s musical lineup includes Japan’s Otonana Trio. Tickets for the music festival are NT$2,800 for all three days and NT$1,000 for a one-day pass. Camping permits are not included in the ticket prices; the South Point Campground offers permits for NT$200 per person per night during the event.

In addition to Spring Scream, there are other spring break events around Kenting this weekend, including Spring Break on the Beach at Kenting Chateau Beach Resort (墾丁夏都沙灘酒店). Spring Break on the Beach features Kryoman, Bombs Away and Headhunterz. Tickets for all three days are NT$1,800.    [FULL  STORY]

Debt claims against African states unrelated to diplomacy: official

Focus Taiwan
2017/03/31 23:08:39
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 31 (CNA) Taiwan’s efforts to recover money owed by African states that resulted in court victories recently have nothing to do with the country’s diplomacy and whether or not the debtors are diplomatic allies, Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Friday.

Deputy Finance Minister Su Jan-jong (蘇建榮) made the declaration in response to reporters’ questions about a Reuters report Friday suggesting that the claims were a possible warning to Taiwan’s allies thinking of switching their allegiance to China.

Citing court documents, Reuters reported that Taiwan’s Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) had made claims to recover unpaid loans totaling US$261.4 million from the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea-Bissau.

Taiwan has successfully sued the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a United States district court to recover US$212 million, Reuters said, while the case against Guinea-Bissau is still pending.   [FULL  STORY]

Hsu to accept resignation of office director

DEATH WISH:Hsu Kuo-yung’s office director, Connie Lin, resigned after saying online that pension reform protesters should ‘die early on Tomb Sweeping Day’

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 01, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) yesterday said he would accept the

Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung speaks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

resignation of his office director over her controversial remarks urging public-sector workers protesting pension reform to “die early,” but called on a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) councilor who asked for President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) head to also take responsibly for his words.

Hsu said he has asked his office director, Connie Lin (林育卉), to temporarily leave her post after her controversial remarks on Facebook were brought to his attention on Thursday.

Hsu said he had no comment on Lin’s personal opinions, but does feel it is inappropriate for someone working for a government agency to post emotional rhetoric online.   [FULL  STORY]

Explorer: 44 places to take your kids for free this weekend

The China Post
Date: April 1, 2017
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

Tomb Sweeping Day isn’t the only big event coming up — Sunday is Children’s Day.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

Scores of museums, parks and other attractions islandwide are offering special deals, many of which are straight-up free admission for little ones. Take a look at this list of events, pick one near you and have a great break.

Northern Taiwan

Taipei: Taipei Children’s Amusement Park (台北市兒童新樂園)

Offer: Free entrance for all visitors to all areas of park

Valid: April 4

Website: https://goo.gl/zifE7N

Taipei: Taipei Zoo (台北市立動物園)

Offer: Children under 12 accompanied by a parent get in free

Valid: April 4

Website: https://goo.gl/CyXvCi

Taipei: Taipei Water Park (台北自來水園區)

Offer: Children of primary school age and under and accompanying parent enter free

Valid: April 1 to 4

Website: https://goo.gl/0iZva1
[FULL  STORY]

Lee’s detention has chilling effect on students abroad

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 31, 2017
By: Nadia Tsao and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter in Washington, with staff writer

The chilling effect caused by China’s detention of human rights and democracy advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) has spread to the US, where some young Taiwanese said they are now worried about talking about democracy.

Chen Fang-yu (陳方隅), a doctoral candidate in political science at Michigan State University, expressed his concerns at a conference held on Wednesday in Washington by the Global Taiwan Institute on the state of Taiwanese democracy to mark the third anniversary of the Sunflower movement.

The movement refers to student-led protesters’ occupation of the legislative chamber for almost 23 days in March 2014 against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s handling of a cross-strait service trade agreement.

Chen said that unlike democratic countries, China can arbitrarily decide which actions are criminal, including those that other governments consider legitimate exercises of free speech.    [FULL  STORY]

NTU’s multimillion subsidy withheld over scandal

The China Post
Date: March 31, 2017
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan 

National Taiwan University’s (NTU) annual government fund was cut by NT$54 million on Thursday, as the Ministry of Education (MOE) found it negligent in its supervision over a paper forgery scandal involving the schools’ president and leading professors.

Nine of 17 research papers written by NTU professors were found to have contained fabricated images and data, the MOE’s Department of Higher Education Director Lee Yen-yi (李彥儀) said Thursday.

The school was punished for its inability to manage the situation immediately after the scandal was exposed, causing severe harm to the nation’s academic reputation, the ministry said in a statement.    [FULL  STORY][