Page Three

Hung vows full support for winner

Taiei Times
Date: Jan 10, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Whoever wins in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) next chairperson election will have the party’s full

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu, second right, joins party workers for lunch in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times

and united support, KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said yesterday, dismissing speculation that she is worried about the increasingly competitive race.

Hung made the remarks while visiting a group of KMT staffers who have camped outside the office of the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee for 25 consecutive days to protest against what they called the committee’s illegal handling of the party’s assets.

“I believe every candidate in the election should have faith in themselves, and should not care too much about the outcome. We will support whoever wins,” Hung said, adding that the KMT would have no future if it does not unite.

Asked if she thinks the election, scheduled for May 20, has seen too much competition too soon, with two other candidates having announced their bids, Hung said she had been too preoccupied with party affairs to feel a thing.    [FULL  STORY]

Local musicians honored by KKBOX Awards

The China Post
Date: January 10, 2017
By: Kuan-lin Liu

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Music streaming service KKBOX announced the winners of its 12th Annual KKBOX

Celebrity host Mickey Chang (黃子佼), left, poses with performers Della (丁噹), center, and Goo (鼓鼓) at a preview event for the 12th Annual KKBOX Music Awards. The award show, which will take place on the night of Jan. 21, celebrates the artists whose music were the most listened to on the KKBOX app in 2016. (Photo courtesy of One for All Public Relations Consultants)

Music Awards during a preview event for the Jan. 21 award show.

Celebrity Mickey Huang (黃子佼), who hosted the preview event and who will be hosting the award show for the ninth time later in the month, announced the recipients of the KKBOX Music Awards, which included 10 awards for chart-topping artists, one award for an indie artist and one award for best new artist.

The 10 chart-topping artists, in no particular order, were: Hebe Tien (田馥甄), Taiwanese rock band Mayday (五月天), JJ Lin (林俊傑), G.U.T.S. (兄弟本色), Nine One One (玖壹壹), Eric Chou (周興哲), G.E.M. (鄧紫棋), William Wei (韋禮安), Jay Chou (周杰倫) and Della (丁噹).

The KKBOX Indie Artist award went to No Party For Cao Dong (草東沒有派對) and the Best New Artist award went to Under Lover (地下情人).

The awards were given out based solely on the number of times the artists’ songs were played on the music app throughout the past year, without a panel of judges or any other factor shaping the list of winners.    [FULL  STORY]

Cooler weather and rain coming to northern Taiwan

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-01-08

Much cooler weather and rain is expected in northern Taiwan through Wednesday. The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Sunday that strong seasonal winds are bringing the temperatures down, with lows expected to dip to 14 degrees from late Monday into early Tuesday.

Forecasters say other areas in Taiwan will see minimum temperatures of 19-20 degrees through Wednesday.

Meanwhile, highs of 21-24 degrees are expected in the north, and 25-28 degrees throughout the rest of Taiwan over the next three days.

The weather is expected to turn slightly warmer on Thursday and Friday, before another cold weather system moves through Taiwan.    [SOURCE]

‘Weiya’ not a work task except for assigned organizers: labor ministry

MOL says employees assigned to organize year-end banquets are entitled to overtime pay if duties extend beyond work hours

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/08
By: Central News Agency

Taipei — The Ministry of Labor (MOL) has defined companies’ year-end banquets as an extra-curricular

(By Central News Agency)

activity that employees are not required to attend, but said the workers assigned to organize the “weiya,” as it is called, are entitled to overtime pay if their duties extend beyond work hours.

In a statement issued Sunday, the MOL said the year-end banquet, usually held before the Chinese New Year, is a tradition in Taiwan that is meant to thank employees for their work over the past year.

“A weiya is a joyful celebration in which workers can participate freely if they wish,” the MOL said. “No one is obliged to attend the weiya because it is an extra-curricular activity, therefore, there is no issue of overtime pay.”

This year’s weiya season is entering its peak next week, with only 20 days to go to Chinese New Year’s day on Jan. 28.    [FULL  STORY]

Vietnam actress admits to lying about marital status and much more

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/08
By: Wang Jing-yi and Jay Chen

Taipei, Jan. 8 (CNA) Vietnamese actress Nguyen Thanh Dao (阮菁桃) on Sunday shocked her fans but also elicited sympathy when she admitted to having lied about her marital status, place of birth and academic record.

Nguyen, better known in Taiwan by her stage name Helen Thanh Dao (海倫清桃), called a press conference in Taipei, at which she introduced a Taiwanese man named Tai Fa-kuei (戴發奎) as her husband.

Until now, Nguyen had presented herself as a single, 33-year-old Taiwanese-Vietnamese, who was born in Taiwan’s eastern county of Hualien.

But at Sunday’s press conference, Tai told reporters that, in fact, Nguyen was born in Vietnam and had married him 18 years ago when she was 22.    [FULL  STORY]

More than 200 Taiwanese deportees still in China

DETAINED:The Mainland Affairs Council called on Beijing to uphold its deal with Taipei on joint efforts to cooperate in combating cross-border telecoms fraud

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 09, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

A total of 223 Taiwanese who were deported over the past nine months from other nations on suspicion of telecommunications fraud are still being held in China, where they were deported, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday.

The government is seeking to bring back the suspects to face trial in Taiwan, the council said.

The suspects are being held in detention centers across China, the council said, calling on Beijing to uphold its agreements with Taipei on joint efforts to combat cross-border telecoms fraud and to continue the cooperation to protect the rights and interests of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Fifty of the suspects were arrested in Kenya in April and August last year and were deported to China, where they are being held at a detention center in Beijing’s Haidian District, the council said.    [FULL  STORY]

Violence mars another public hearing

The China Post
Date: January 9, 2017
By: Stephanie Chao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Physical altercations erupted outside the third regional public hearing on pension

Hundreds of protesters gather outside the venue of a regional pension reform public hearing in Kaohsiung, Sunday, Jan. 8. Sporadic scuffles broke out between protesters and police for the second straight day on Sunday, following a clash in Taichung. (CNA)

reforms Sunday in Kaohsiung, where over a thousand police were stationed to keep demonstrators at bay.

A day after chaos broke outside Taichung’s public hearing on Saturday, Kaohsiung police shut down streets, set up roadblocks and stood guard outside the third regional meeting as a precaution.

Around 2 p.m., when the public hearing was scheduled to begin, hundreds of labor group protesters brandished banners and marched toward the police stationed outside the venue.

Shouting “We want to attend the meeting,” the demonstrators attempted to break through the wall of police but were blocked from entering despite waves of physical conflict.

Several of the demonstrators leading the charge on the front line were holding invitations to the public hearing in their hands, local media reported.    [FULL  STORY]

East Asian Weather Report for Sunday, January 8

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-01-07

In Taiwan, Taipei in the north will be mostly cloudy with occasional rain and temperatures ranging between 18 and 22 C. Kaohsiung in the south will be partly cloudy with a high of 26 C.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong will be sunny with a high of 23 C. In Beijing, sunshine and a high of 3 C. Tokyo can expect showers and a high of 12 C. And Seoul is looking at partly cloudy skies and a high of 4.    [SOURCE]

Japanese man dies in paragliding crash

Cause of accident still unclear

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A 47-year-old Japanese man died after he crashed while paragliding over the

(By Central News Agency)

mountains of Pingtung County, reports said Saturday.

The cause of the accident was not yet known, with a mistake or a sudden side wind listed as possible causes, according to local emergency services.

The Japanese man, who has not been named, was reportedly part of a group taking paragliding exercises at the Saijia camp in Sandimen, a popular tourist destination in the mountains of Pingtung County, reports said.

At around 3:56 p.m., the man reportedly lost control over his sail at an altitude of 100 meters, and plummeted down in a spiral movement, according to eyewitnesses. When the emergency services arrived on the scene, they found the man with both legs broken and no sign of life.

They took him to the Pingtung division of the Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, but to no avail, reports said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan fishing boat crew safe after collision with Liberian ship

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/07
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Jan. 7 (CNA) All 10 crewmembers on a Taiwan fishing boat were safe after a Liberian merchant

Photo courtesy of Maritime Patrol Directorate General

ship ran into it from behind in the South Pacific early Saturday, opening up a leak in fishing vessel, the Fisheries Agency said.

The agency said it had contacted the fishing boat, the Hsiang Yung No. 6 (祥湧6號) which is registered in Pingtung County, and learned that the leak had improved and no one had been hurt.

Although the fishing boat can sail, its crew has been advised to wait for rescue by another Taiwanese fishing vessel in the area that is sailing toward them and is expected to reach them later in the evening, the agency said.

Fisheries Agency Deputy Director General Huang Hung-yen (黃鴻燕) said there were two Taiwanese and eight Indonesian crewmembers aboard the fishing boat at the time of the collision, which occurred at 3:45 a.m. in the South Pacific.    [FULL  STORY]