The China Post
Date: October 9, 2016
By: CNA
A brass band and dancers rehearse in the rain near the Presidential Office building in Taipei on Saturday, Oct. 8 for the upcoming National Day parade. President Tsai Ing-wen will deliver her first National Day speech on Monday at a ceremony outside the Presidential Office. [SOURCE]
EXTRAVAGANT:The Miaoli County government spent NT$374 million on fireworks alone for 2012 National Day celebrations, Control Yuan member Liu Te-hsun said
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 08, 2016
By: Lin Liang-sheng, Chang Teng-hsun, Hsu Chan-yi and Jake / Staff reporters, with staff writer
The Control Yuan on Thursday impeached former Miaoli County commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻)
Former Miaoli County commissioner Liu Cheng-hung, center, speaks during a campaign event for then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu in Miaoli on Dec. 12 last year. Photo: Cheng Hung-ta, Taipei Times
on charges of severe negligence of duty after Liu’s borrowing allegedly led to the county’s financial crisis and a debt of NT$67.6 billion (US$2.15 billion).
Liu issued a statement through his aides saying that he regrets being impeached, but rests assured that he is innocent, adding that he hopes the Control Yuan can make a more detailed investigation.
Control Yuan Committee members Liu Te-hsun (劉德勳) and Kao Feng-hsien (高鳳仙) cited a National Audit Office Miaoli branch report issued in August for fiscal 2015, which said that the county government’s public deficit reached NT$39.2 billion.
The county’s underfunded liabilities included NT$16.7 billion in loans from the central government’s special Reserved Centrally Funded Tax Revenues (特別統籌分配款), special accounts and foundation funds, as well as NT$11.6 billion in unpaid annual expenses as of fiscal 2013, the report said. [FULL STORY]
Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Mainland Affairs Council said Friday it could not agree to the Straits 
Exchange Foundation applying for an account on the Sina Weibo social media platform which would require the body to select “Taiwan area” as its location.
The SEF is the semi-official organization which handles direct contacts with China, often in the event of crime and accidents, while the MAC is the government body in charge of China policies.
According to Kuomintang legislator Yang Cheng-wu, a plan by the SEF to open a Sina Weibo account and launch some short movies on the site might run into trouble because in its application for an account, it would have to select “Taiwan area” as its location, a term which reveals China’s refusal to accept Taiwan as a sovereign and independent country.
In that case, it would be impossible to approve of the SEF attempt to join Sina Weibo, MAC Minister Chang Hsiao-yueh told lawmakers Friday. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/07
By: Tai Ya-chen and Y.F. Low
Taipei, Oct. 7 (CNA) The Taiwan government has expanded its e-visa program to include nationals from
A copy of the Quran available in a hotel in Taipei, CNA file photo
nine more countries with immediate effect, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Friday.
Six of the new additions are in the Middle East: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The other three are the Commonwealth of Dominica, Montenegro and the Philippines.
According to the MOFA, the Philippines is being included in the program on a trial basis for one year.
The e-visa program, which allows eligible foreign visitors to apply for Taiwan visas online, was launched by the government on Jan. 12 as part of an effort to boost tourism. [FULL STORY]
FOUL PLAY:Talks cannot proceed if the occupation of the speaker’s podium is constantly used as a legislative tactic, NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang said
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 08, 2016
By: Cheng Hung-ta and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The caucuses of the three major parties in the legislature on Wednesday failed to reach an agreement
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus convener Ker Chien-ming, front right, talks to DPP lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
on completing the reviews of proposed amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), with each caucus accusing another of scuttling the negotiations.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the New Power Party (NPP) caucuses met for a follow-up review of the proposed “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” policy.
The hour-long meeting convened by the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee ended in discord.
The KMT caucus said that committee convener Chen Ying (陳瑩) went against Legislative Yuan regulations, adding that the KMT stands firm in its position that the committee meeting was ineffective.
NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said his party has always maintained that legislative regulations should be followed to have meaningful discussions, adding that from his perspective, the KMT was refusing to follow regulations and wants to “maintain its right to make trouble.” [FULL STORY]
The China Post
Date: October 8, 2016
By: CNA
TAIPEI–Taiwan’s Supreme Court upheld Friday a Taiwan High Court’s decision to convict former lawmaker Fung Hu-hsiang (馮滬祥) of raping a Filipino caregiver, and to sentence him to three years and four months in prison.
According to the verdict, the former New Party legislator raped the woman, who was hired by his family, at his home in Taipei in 2004. After the rape, she contacted a friend, who informed the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei of the abuse.
An employee from the office accompanied her to a local hospital for treatment and the hospital reported the rape to the police, according to the verdict.
The woman returned to the Philippines after signing a settlement agreement with the lawmaker and receiving NT$800,000 (US$25,432) in a settlement fee.
In the first and second trials and the first retrial, Fung was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of rape. In the second retrial, he was sentenced to one year on charges of taking advantage of his authority to have sexual intercourse with another person, but the prison term was reduced to six months, with the penalties commutable to a fine. [FULL STORY]
The China Post
Date: October 7, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh
TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Taipei-based foundation on Thursday called on more Taiwanese to become foster
From left, Mrs. and Mr. Tsai (蔡) and their adoped child Ai-Chan (愛將), Hung Ya-li (洪雅莉), director of the Garden of Hope Foundation’s (勵馨基金會) Taipei Branch, and two other guests, pose for photographs during a press conference in Taipei on Thursday. (Morgan Lin, The China Post)
parents and to donate money for the care of children that are waiting to be adopted.
The Garden of Hope Foundation (勵馨基金會), a non-profit organization established in 1988 to help disadvantaged girls and young women, offers assistance to underage parents who are unable to raise their children due to financial challenges.
In 2015, the foundation was able to provide services to 403 underage parents and a combined 87 children, who were waiting to be adopted. Among the 87, 22 were able to find foster families in 2015, Hung Ya-li (洪雅莉), director of the foundation’s Taipei Branch, said at a press conference in Taipei.
A child in line for adoption must wait an average of five to nine months before they are matched with a foster family.
Before they are matched with a family, the foundation pays professional babysitters to take care of the chindren 24/7 and pays for their diapers and other basic necessities, Hung said. [FULL STORY]
Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-06
By: Claudia Liu and Lilian Wu, Central News Agency
Taipei, Oct. 6 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen has bank deposits of NT$49.27 million (US$1.56 million), 
NT$4.15 million less than last year, when she was running for president, according to the latest “Clean Politics Report” published Thursday by the Control Yuan, the nation’s highest watchdog body.
Tsai also declared four pieces of land and two houses — all in trust — which remained unchanged from last year’s declaration.
She owns securities worth NT$4.13 million, debts of NT$10.23 million and an investment of NT$1.1 million.
She collects NT$90,000 per month from renting out land.
The four pieces of land are located in Taipei’s Songshan District and Daan District, with another in New Taipei’s Yonghe District, while the two houses are in Taipei’s Daan District and Yonghe District in New Taipei. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/06
By: Lee Hsin-Yin
Taipei, Oct. 6 (CNA) Taiwan and Germany not only have strong ties in trade and innovation technology,
Martin Eberts (second right)
but also share great values such as freedom and democracy, said Martin Eberts, director general of the German Institute Taipei, at a celebration of German Unity Day on Thursday.
On Oct. 3, 1989, after a peaceful revolution, the people of East Germany succeeded in shaking off a communist dictatorship and embarked on a democratic path, leading to the eventual German reunification a year later.
In a statement issued at the celebration in Taipei, Eberts recalled that since Oct. 3, 1990, Germany has each year celebrated that democracy prevailed over illegitimate one-party rule, that freedom proved stronger than brute force, and that human rights cannot be suppressed indefinitely, and that all this change was brought about by a peaceful uprising, by an authentic expression of self determination of the people.
“It is this spirit of freedom and democracy, of respect for human rights and an open society, which is uniting Germans and Taiwanese especially on this very day,” Eberts said in the statement. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/06
By: Chen Chia-lun and S.C. Chang
Taipei, Oct. 6 (CNA) Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Thursday the government will not
CNA file photo
accept China’s policy of dividing Taiwan into “pan-blue” and “pan-green” areas based on which Chinese visitors follow a “politicized” schedule while traveling around the island.
“The government’s policy of welcoming Chinese tourists remains unchanged, but we do not welcome (Beijing’s) political arrangement of Chinese tourist schedules in Taiwan,” said MAC Vice Chairman Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正).
He added Beijing’s actions will “worsen the relations between the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”
Chiu was replying to a media question about China allowing its citizens to only visit eight Taiwanese cities and counties whose governments are headed by mayors and magistrates who are from the pan-blue camp — meaning Kuomintang (KMT) and its pro-China allies. [FULL STORY]
