Taipei Times
Date: Dec 02, 2016
By: Cheng Hung-ta / Staff reporter

Legislators across party lines yesterday called on China to release human rights lawyer Jiang

Tianyong (江天勇), who has been missing since Monday last week after he visited a relative of an imprisoned human rights advocate in China’s Hunan Province.

Jiang went to Changsha to visit the wife of jailed lawyer Xie Yang (謝陽) on Nov. 21, but Jiang went missing after making a call to his wife informing her of his planned return to Beijing, reports said.

Jiang’s wife and parents have attempted to file police reports with Chinese authorities in Beijing, Changsha and Zhengzhou, but they were deliberately thwarted, the reports said.

Jiang was an attorney in human rights cases, including one involving Chinese human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng (陳光誠), an expropriate dispute between the local government and private petroleum companies in Shaanxi Province, and a case involving the rights of people with HIV/AIDS.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 2, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese youth planning to visit the United Kingdom under the Youth Mobility

Scheme (YMS) will no longer need to provide a certificate of sponsorship starting next year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has announced.

MOFA said the British government announced on Nov. 30 that, starting in January 2017, Taiwan would be granted “Deemed Sponsorship Status” in the YMS.

This means YMS applicants from Taiwan will no longer need to first obtain a certificate of sponsorship from the local Youth Development Administration under the Ministry of Education (YDA, 青年發展署) before applying for a visa, MOFA said in a statement.

Applicants were previously required to first obtain a certificate from the YDA and to apply for a YMS visa at the British Office within three months of receiving the certificate.

MOFA welcomes the announcement, saying the decision will make it easier for Taiwanese youth to visit the U.K. It also shows the U.K. deeply values the program, it added.

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In a separate statement, the British Office, which represents British interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties, also announced the major change.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 1, 2016

This undated file photo shows tourists wading across shallow water toward an island during low tide in Penghu County. But the arrival of thousands of people every month poses a threat to the environment. The county government is assessing a plan to collect “cleaning fees” to control the numbers of tourists and to fund environmental protection work.    [SOURCE]

Peng’s murder remains one of the most infamous cold cases in Taiwan’s criminal investigation history.

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/30
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

With the prescriptive period of women’s rights activist Peng Wan-ru’s murder coming to an end in just a

few days, a police officer who was a member of the case’s special investigation team said he regretted that the 20-year-old case had not been cracked despite all the effort that had been made.

Peng, then the director of the Democratic Progressive Party’s Women’s Affairs Department, was reported missing after getting into a taxi after a gathering at a restaurant on the night of Nov. 30, 1996, the night before a DPP party convention in Kaohsiung, which she was slated to attend.

Her body was found three days later outside an abandoned warehouse in Niaosong, Kaohsiung, naked and with more than 30 stab wounds. According to reports, she had been raped.

The case dominated the headlines of national media at that time.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/30
By: Miu Tzung-han and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Nov. 30 (CNA) The government is continuing its efforts to improve conditions for Chinese students in Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Wednesday.

As Taiwan pushes ahead with its policy of welcoming Chinese students, it hopes China will also help to maintain and cherish the fruits of cross-Taiwan Strait exchanges, the MAC said in response to a statement by its counterpart in China, which said Chinese parents and students have not been as enthusiastic about Taiwan as a study destination since the change of government in May.

The MAC said, however, that since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her Democratic Progressive Party took office earlier this year, the government has been reviewing and revising its policy regarding Chinese students in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 1, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan and Japan on Wednesday signed two memorandums of understanding

(MOUs) on language exchange and product safety cooperation, as annual trade and economic talks between the two countries concluded in Taipei.

The two MOUs were signed by Japan Interchange Association (JIA) Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi and his Taiwanese counterpart Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), chairman of the Association of East Asian Relations (AEAR, 亞東關係協會), at the conclusion of the annual Taiwan-Japan Trade and Economic Meeting.

The two groups are quasi-official organizations set up by their respective governments to handle bilateral affairs in the absence of official ties.

According to the Education Ministry, the MOU on language exchange is targeted at high school students from Taiwan and Japan, allowing them to visit each other’s countries on language exchange and study trips.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: November 29, 2016

The 28th Trade Consultation Meeting between Taiwan and the European Union was held Nov. 25 in

Brussels, Belgium, highlighting continued efforts by the two sides to forge closer economic ties.

The annual meeting was jointly presided over by Republic of China (Taiwan) Vice Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua and Mauro Petriccione, deputy director-general of the European Commission’s Directorate General of Trade. Both sides called for increased cooperation and exchanged views on progress reports made by working groups in areas such as technical barriers to trade and intellectual property rights.

“Taiwan and the EU should ink a bilateral investment agreement as soon as possible to create favorable investment environments for each other’s enterprises,” Wang said. “The nation is promoting offshore wind farms, the smart machinery industry and circular economy. We hope European companies pursue investment or seek technical cooperation with Taiwan partners in these areas so the two sides can build closer connections.”

Representatives praised an agreement signed Nov. 25 in Taipei between the European Anti-Fraud Office, which is part of European Commission, and Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade and Customs Administration under the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Finance, respectively. The accord, they said, reflects Taiwan and the EU’s commitment to fighting illegal transshipping and customs-related fraud.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/29
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

With Christmas just one month away, Tainan City Government is now holding Christmas Light Festival featuring “Galaxy Christmas,” lighting up the historic city with seven lit-up areas.

As one of the oldest cities in Taiwan, Tainan has tangible legacies of history which attract many tourists to visit every year. To promote the city’s tourism, seven themed Christmas Lighting Areas have been set up in the city’s most famous tourist spots and historical sites, which are the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, Xinying Culture Center, Star Diamond Canal Park, Tainan Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, Tainan Culture & Creative Park, Hai An Road and Zheng Xing Street.

The annual Christmas Light Festival has become more and more popular in recent years, with the beautiful decorated trees shining colorful light on the surroundings, attracting photographers and tourists from all over the country.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/29
By: Elaine Hou and Leaf Chiang

Brussels, Nov. 29 (CNA) Taiwan fell one place in the annual International Institute for Management and

Development (IMD) World Talent Ranking for 2016, moving from 23rd place last year to 24th but remaining fourth in Asia.

Published Tuesday, the report assesses the ability of 61 economies to develop, attract and retain talent for enterprises operating in those economies.

The ranking is based on three factors: investment and development of home-grown talent; appeal — the ability of the country to tap into the overseas talent pool; and readiness — the availability of skills and competencies in the talent pool.

In the three main categories, Taiwan fell 10 notches to 28th place in the area of investment and development, the report said. Taiwan remains No. 26 in the area of appeal, but slipped one place from last year to No. 26 in the category of readiness, it added.    [FULL  STORY]