COMPROMISE:The DPP agreed to delay review of a proposal to halve the securities transaction tax and urban renewal measures to prioritize review of the general budget

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 06, 2017
By: Tseng Wei-chen / Staff reporter, with CNA

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucuses yesterday

reached a compromise on the ongoing extraordinary legislative session, with the two sides agreeing to cut the session by six days and that it would only deal with general budget bills and two other draft amendments.

The DPP caucus initially planned to hold the extraordinary session from yesterday through Jan. 26, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve, but agreed to shorten the session to Jan. 20 after a meeting with other party caucuses yesterday morning.

The meeting came after no consensus was reached during cross-party negotiations on Wednesday to set the special session’s agenda.

The number of legislative items the DPP caucus originally intended to handle in the extraordinary session was also cut from seven to three, which include the general budget, as well as amendments to the Electricity Act (電業法) and the Long-term Care Services Act (長期照顧服務法).    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 6, 2017
By: Kuan-lin Liu

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) gave VIP guests and reporters a sneak peek

of the foods and other products that will be featured at the upcoming 2017 Taiwan New Year Market Fair on Thursday.

At the preview, TAITRA President and CEO Peter W.J. Huang (黃文榮) announced that this year’s fair would feature 388 businesses and 600 booths.

The fair, now in its fourth year, witnessed a 5 percent increase in the number of booths it would feature compared to 2016. The number of participating vendors experienced growth as well, with this year featuring the most international participating businesses in the fair’s history.

Thirteen vendors who will have booths during the 5-day fair were present at the preview to spread the word about their products. The fair will run from Jan. 12 to Jan. 16.

These businesses, which vary from seafood providers and wineries to jewelry makers, include Greenmax, New Yange, DaChan Greatwall Group, Grand Hyatt Taipei, and Billy King, among others.   [FULL STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/01/04

Taiwan’s National Development Council (NDC) said last Thursday around 500,000 to 1 million tech

workers have gone to China to work, according to Taiwan News. Other affected industries include business management and technical personnel.

A 2016 survey conducted by Business Weekly shows: 62 percent of Taiwanese aged 20 to 35 plan to work abroad; 89 percent of these young adults say that the low salaries in Taiwan are what drive them to leave the country; 76 percent of the subjects think Taiwan does not provide enough opportunities for young people and that working abroad can improve their resumes.

On average, countries such as the U.K. and the U.S. offer salaries 2.5 times more than Taiwan, while Japan and Singapore offer 2.4 times more, China 2.3 times, and ASEAN countries 2.2 times.   [SOURCE]

Plans include pushing for GHG emissions inspections, the use of low carbon air conditioning systems and electric cars and vans.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/04
By: Wendy Lee , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TTIA) has announced on Tuesday its new goal to become the first

and leading low carbon airport in Taiwan.

The decision came at a time when the airport has seen significant growth in passenger numbers, with total passenger traffic reaching 42 million by the end of 2016, which is on par with other international airports such as Singapore’s Changi Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, and South Korea’s Incheon International Airport.

The large increase in passenger traffic has moved the airport up to the ACI’s top evaluation category by size. (the over 40 million passengers per annum category).

ACI, or Airports Council International, is the only global trade representative of the world’s airports.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/04
By: Sophia Yeh, Huang Chao-pin and Ko Lin

Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) The Presidential Office said Wednesday that it respects the views of a United States think tank, which recommended that the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump devise new strategies to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

In a report published Tuesday, the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) said that a reduction of cross-Taiwan Strait tensions were in the interests of both the U.S. and Taiwan.

The report urged the incoming administration in Washington to come up with a new “modus vivendi” to maintain the cross-strait status quo, saying that such measures would serve to reassure the U.S.’ allies in the Asia-Pacific region.

A new modus vivendi would “allow Taiwan to continue to develop its democracy and its economy,” the think tank said in the report.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 5, 2017
By: Christine Chou

Local cloud computing pioneer and Hope Bay Technologies (和沛科技) founder Ben Jai (翟本喬) on

Wednesday confirmed reports of a mass layoff at the cloud computing solutions provider.

According to a report from the Chinese-language Credere Media, Hope Bay Tech plans to lay off more than a hundred staff.

Hon Hai Group, which trades as Foxconn, holds around 40 percent of Hope Bay Tech’s shares.

In a Facebook post, Jai stressed the company had enough capital to sustain its core cloud storage operations, adding they were trimming headcount because its business partner had readjusted its market strategy and product lines, prompting Hope Bay Tech to follow suit.

“With limited funds and time, we need to allocate our resources to projects that bring in the maximum value. This is the responsible path to take,” Jai said.Hon Hai-invested startup confirms mass layoffs   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 03, 2017

The number of travelers arriving in Taiwan from countries covered by the New Southbound Policy surged

23 percent year on year in November, reflecting the effectiveness of the government initiative in bolstering the local tourism industry.

One of the key components of President Tsai Ing-wen’s national development strategy, the New Southbound Policy seeks to deepen agricultural, business, cultural, education, trade and tourism links with ASEAN member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.

According to the Office of Trade Negotiations under the Executive Yuan, 195,419 travelers arrived from the 18 countries for the month. The top segment was the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, up 23.9 percent to 183,021 and representing 20.5 of the nation’s visitor total.

The result is particularly significant given that the number of foreign tourists dropped 5.1 percent from same time the year before, the office said.

A breakdown of the figures reveals that with the exception of Nepal, visitor arrivals from the 17 other New Southbound Policy countries posted gains in November. Cambodia, Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam led the way with growth of 288.6 percent, 102.7 percent, 98.8 percent and 93.2 percent, respectively.

The office attributed the positive trend to new regulations implemented in the second half of last year offering e-visa or visa-free entry on a trial basis to qualified applicants from Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/03
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei (Taiwan News)–A police officer pushed a stalled car 500 meters down a busy bridge in New Taipei

City during rush hours on Tuesday morning, and his act has been received with praise and gratitude.

Police officer Huang Wei-shou received a call from Tamsui Precinct’s Duty Command Center at 7:50 a.m. and was asked to go up the Guandu Bridge, which links Bali with Tamsui and Beitou, to check what had caused traffic congestion.

Huang said after he got on the bridge, he immediately saw a black car stalled on an outer lane, seriously obstructing the traffic.

Huang called for a tow truck. But if he had waited for a tow truck to arrive, it would have been too long and people on their way to work would have been seriously delayed. To get the traffic back on track quickly, he made a quick decision to work with the driver to push the car down the bridge.

Huang was joined while pushing from the rear of the vehicle by two passing motorcyclists who stopped to help. Together, the four successfully and safely pushed the car 500 meters down the bridge to a spot under the bridge.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/03
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) All companies listed on the local main board and the over-the-counter (OTC) market

will be asked to adopt electronics-voting by 2018 in a bid to allow shareholders who are unable to attend annual general meetings in person to express their opinion, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Tuesday.

The FSC, the top financial regulator in Taiwan, said any listed company that fails to follow the new e-voting rules, will have its future fund raising plans rejected by the commission.

At present, only listed companies with paid-in capital of NT$2 billion (US$62 million) or more are required to adopt e-voting for shareholder meetings.

In 2015, a total of 604 listed firms used e-voting systems, including 491 firms for which it was mandatory. This year, the number will increase to 1,062, including 531 with paid-in capital of NT$2 billion or more.   [FULL  STORY]