Taipei Times
Date: Feb 25, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) chairpersonship election has become even more

competitive after former KMT legislator Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) yesterday became the sixth to join the race.

Pan, a six-term KMT legislator and a three-term Taipei city councilor, announced her candidacy at a news conference in Taipei, which was attended by her supporters and several KMT politicians, including former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), former acting KMT chairperson Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) and KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏).

Former minister of transportation and communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時), who denied rumors he would enter the race, was also at the news conference.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 017-02-22

Former Interior Minister Lee I-yang says that pension reform must move forward to

avoid financial issues that might cripple the system.

Lee was speaking at the Legislature on Wednesday to present his plan for pension reform as candidate for the deputy of head of the Examination Yuan. Lee said that Taiwan’s aging population has exposed the financial stress that early retirement has put on the pension system.

Lee has also said that spending on pensions for retired military personnel, teachers, and civil servants outstripped revenues in 2011, 2014, and 2015. Lee suggested several proposals for reforming the system, including increasing the age when civil servants can begin receiving monthly pension payments.    [SOURCE]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Three Taiwanese restaurants selected in the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017 on

Tuesday are RAW, Le Moût, and MUME.

The list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, was announced at an awards ceremony at the W Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. The 2017 list welcomes 10 new entries, while China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand each count 9 restaurants on the list.

Gaggan in Bangkok claims the No.1 spot for a third consecutive year.

 

The winners’ circle also includes chef André Chiang’s Raw (No.24), earning The Best Restaurant in Taiwan title, as well as Le Moût, and MUME, which came in at No. 28 and No. 43, respectively.

Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list is compiled from the votes of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of over 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Asia, each selected for their expert opinion of Asia’s restaurant scene.
[SOURCE]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/22
By: Christie Chen, Liu Kuan-ting and Su Lung-chi

Taipei, Feb. 22 (CNA) Following the discovery of a substance believed to be drugs at a military air base in Taichung, central Taiwan, alarmed opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers on Wednesday said that drugs alone would defeat Taiwanese troops.

The finding raised the issue of possible substance abuse in the military.

If drugs are being sold on military bases, there is no point sending Taiwanese troops into battle or wasting money on missiles or aircraft carriers, KMT Legislator Chiang Chi-chen (江啟臣) said at a press conference.

“Class-three drugs can undermine Taiwan’s military,” Chiang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 23, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Members of a new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) committee on immigrants were

inaugurated yesterday to advise the party on immigration issues amid rapid growth in the number of immigrants living in Taiwan.

The committee was established to address the needs of new immigrants, which make up the fifth-largest ethnic group in the nation, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at a ceremony held at DPP headquarters in Taipei.

The DPP was the first party to commit itself to issues relating to Aborigines and the party’s new immigrant committee is another step forward, said Tsai, who doubles as DPP chair.

“The number of immigrants has reached nearly 500,000 and the number of their children is more than 350,000. As a party responsive to public opinion and emphasizing ethnic pluralism, the DPP has to address the needs and opinions of new immigrants,” Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: February 21, 2017

Taiwan’s pig farming sector is set to get cleaner and greener under an NT$2.6 billion, four-year COA project approved Feb. 20 by the NDC. (UDN)
An NT$2.6 billion (US$84 million) project for improving the health of Taiwan’s pigs and boosting production of biogas from their manure was greenlighted Feb. 20 by the National Development Council, paving the way for a significant boost to the sector’s international competitiveness.

Proposed by the Council of Agriculture under the Executive Yuan, the four-year plan is expected to be finalized within a week. Its main goals include having Taiwan removed from the list of foot-and-mouth disease areas maintained by Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and promoting the sector as a leading source of biogas—a renewable energy source comprising mainly methane and carbon dioxide.
[FULL  STORY]

Repairs to be completed by Tuesday evening: Taoyuan Metro

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/21
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A crack which was found in a steel rail on the Airport Mass

Rapid Transit line will not affect traffic and not delay the introduction of regular service, the Taoyuan Metro Corporation (TMC) said Tuesday.

The official opening of the 51-kilometer line between Taipei Railway Station and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport will take place on March 2, but at present, passengers can already travel on the trains for free during limited hours and after having picked up numbered tickets at certain stations.

During a routine maintenance check on February 18, staff found a crack between 2 millimeters and 5 mm long in a piece of steel rail between Linkou and Shanbi stations, a TMC official said Tuesday.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/21
By: Justin Su and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) The Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration has hoped for positive

interactions between Taiwan and China since it took office on May 20 last year, but the situation has not been “ideal enough,” Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said Tuesday.

The government will continue its efforts in this area with the hope of engaging in interactions with China under the principles of equality and dignity, while building mutual trust and generating good will through contacts between the two sides.

Lin made the comment during a legislative question-and-answer session when asked to respond to concerns over cross-Taiwan Strait relations and newly amended labor laws expressed in an annual survey released by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taipei on Monday.    [FULL  STORY]