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Three injured in power repair truck accident

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-28
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Three employees of Taiwan Power Corporation out to repair power failures in 6773949the wake of Typhoon Megi were injured when their truck plowed down a ravine in Miaoli County Wednesday.

More than 3.3 million households nationwide lost power during the onslaught of the storm Tuesday, and repair crews were out in force Wednesday to try and restore electricity.

The group had completed work in a mountainous area of Touwu Township and was on its way back when they crashed down a 10-meter-deep ravine, reports said. Rescue workers found one of the men gravely injured, and took all of them to a hospital in Miaoli.

The road had been covered in fallen branches and was loosened up due to the heavy rain of the past day, reports said.     [FULL  STORY]

DPP should clarify its cross-strait policy: founding member

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/28
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Sept. 28 (CNA) The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should consider the interests of the Taiwanese people and adopt a clear and definite cross-strait policy to avoid reacting passively to Beijing’s moves, a founding member of the party said Wednesday.

Speaking on the party’s 30th anniversary, Hsu Jung-shu (許榮淑) said the DPP “is not a rookie anymore” and should “make contributions to the Taiwanese people,” since the party has won the reins of government for the second time and holds a legislative majority for the first time.

On Sept. 28, 1986, 132 people took an oath at the Grand Hotel in Taipei to found the DPP, at a time when Taiwan was still under martial-law rule and the establishment of political parties was not allowed. Hsu was one of the 18 people on the organizing committee that founded the party.

The DPP had planned to hold an expanded meeting of its central standing committee at the Grand Hotel on Wednesday, inviting all 18 members of the organizing committee to gather for a reunion.     [FULL  STORY]

Typhoon Megi: Scientific method needed for calling typhoon days: Ko

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 29, 2016
By: Sean Lin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter and staff writer

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday called on the Director-General of Personnel Administration

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je yesterday talks to reporters about the criteria for closing schools and offices during typhoons during an inspection of the Chihtan Purification Plant in New Taipei City’s Sindian District. Photo: CNA

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je yesterday talks to reporters about the criteria for closing schools and offices during typhoons during an inspection of the Chihtan Purification Plant in New Taipei City’s Sindian District. Photo: CNA

to create a more “scientific” method to help local governments decide whether classes and work should be canceled due to a typhoon.

Ko made the remark in response to reporters’ queries following an inspection of the Chihtan Water Purification Plant in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店).

Asked if he regretted canceling classes and work yesterday given the calm weather in Taipei, Ko said that according to the Central Weather Bureau regulations, local governments should announce a typhoon day once the average wind speed reaches Level 7 on the Beaufort Scale or the instantaneous wind speed reaches Level 10.

However, other factors also have to be considered when a local government decides whether to announce a typhoon day, for example the potential negative impact on traffic and the expected precipitation, Ko said.     [FULL  STORY]

Allies extend helping hand to Taiwan at ICAO meet

The China Post
Date: September 29, 2016
By: CNA

MONTREAL–Several countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan voiced support for Taipei’s participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) assembly on Tuesday.

On the sidelines of the 39th triennial ICAO assembly in Montreal, which began Tuesday, Marshall Islands Transportation and Communications Minister Michael J. Halferty said in a meeting with Taiwanese officials that it was unfortunate that Taiwan could not participate in the ICAO meeting.

“We hope that we can help Taiwan in certain areas be involved (in the assembly) this year,” Halferty said. “In any way and any form we can, we will try to provide information to Taiwan to enhance civil aviation in Taiwan.”

Taiwan was not invited to the event, most likely because of the objections of Beijing, which regularly suppresses Taiwan in the international community.     [FULL  STORY]

Vietnam fishermen sue Taiwan steel firm over mass fish deaths

The China Post
Date: September 28, 2016
By: AP

HANOI — Hundreds of Vietnamese fishermen have filed claims seeking compensation from a Taiwanese

FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2016 file photo, Vietnamese activists shout slogans and hold placards reading ''Destroying the environment is killing, "left, and ''Return clean seawater to us'' during a protest to urge Formosa Plastics Group to take responsibilities for the cleanup in Vietnam, in Taipei, Taiwan. Hundreds of Vietnamese fishermen have filed claims seeking compensation from a Taiwanese steel company that acknowledged its toxic chemicals caused a massive fish kill, a local priest helping the fishermen said Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)

FILE – In this Aug. 10, 2016 file photo, Vietnamese activists shout slogans and hold placards reading ”Destroying the environment is killing, “left, and ”Return clean seawater to us” during a protest to urge Formosa Plastics Group to take responsibilities for the cleanup in Vietnam, in Taipei, Taiwan. Hundreds of Vietnamese fishermen have filed claims seeking compensation from a Taiwanese steel company that acknowledged its toxic chemicals caused a massive fish kill, a local priest helping the fishermen said Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)

steel company that acknowledged its toxic chemicals caused a massive fish kill, a local priest helping the fishermen said Tuesday.

The factory, owned by the Formosa Plastics Group, acknowledged in June that it was responsible for the pollution that killed large numbers of fish off the central Vietnamese coast in April, and pledged to pay US$500 million to clean it up and compensate affected people. The pollution created the country’s worst environmental disaster, devastating the regional fishing and tourism industries, and sparked rare protests in the Communist country.

Catholic priest Dang Huu Nam, who led the group of local fishermen, said 506 petitions have been submitted to a local court in Ky Anh town in central Ha Tinh province where the massive fish kill occurred.

“Based on the fact that Formosa admitted their mistake, based on the Vietnamese laws and the losses suffered by the fishermen, they have submitted their claims and they demand that Formosa be closed and compensate their losses as well as material and health losses they may suffer in the future,” Nam said Tuesday by telephone from the courthouse.

Local court officials were not available for comment.     [FULL  STORY]

Typhoon Megi to stay until Wednesday

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-27
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As Typhoon Megi lashed most of Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain

Typhoon Megi disrupts traffic between Xindian and Wulai in New Taipei City Tuesday.

Typhoon Megi disrupts traffic between Xindian and Wulai in New Taipei City Tuesday.

Tuesday, speculation was mounting as too how late the storm would leave Wednesday.

The eye of the typhoon made landfall near Hualien City at 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, and made its way across the island at a speed of 16 kilometers per hour. By 4 p.m., it had moved 50 km west of Hualien.

All of Taiwan’s main island saw offices and schools close Tuesday, with some local governments in parts of the south only ordering closures during the afternoon.

The island of Kinmen close to the coast of China’s Fujian Province said its schools and offices would be closed on Wednesday as the storm was expected to cross the Taiwan Straits during the morning.

Sustained winds reached 155 kph, with gusts of up to 191 kph.     [FULL  STORY]

China may step up pressure on Taiwan on ‘one-China’ issue: MAC

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/27

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) The Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a report that China may 201609270029t0001increase the pressure on Taiwan’s new government to shift its cross-strait policy in the direction of recognizing the “one-China” principle before Beijing holds a major political conference next year.

The report, which is scheduled to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan Wednesday, was compiled after the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) decided to not invite Taiwan to its general assembly, allegedly due to pressure from China.

The MAC said that faced with a number of challenges, both domestic and international, ahead of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017, Beijing is likely to insist on the one-China principle as the core of its policy toward Taiwan.

China’s efforts to block Taiwan’s participation in the ICAO’s 39th triennial assembly that will open Tuesday in Montreal and its move to prevent the Taiwanese media from covering the event has hurt cross-strait relations and the feelings of the Taiwanese people, the MAC said in its report.     [FULL  STORY]

Wang Dan pans post-presidency endeavours by Ma

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 28, 2016
By: Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA

Exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) on Monday slammed former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), saying his post-presidency “pleasure trips” showed a “lack of vision” for a former head of state.

In an interview on Sunday, Ma said since the Presidential Office in July turned down his application to travel to Hong Kong to give a speech, he was “forced to take pleasure trips domestically” to “compensate for the loss of Chinese tourists by boosting domestic consumption.”

Wang posted on Facebook that former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter continued to be active in important causes after leaving office, establishing charitable foundations to engage in efforts to combat AIDS or advance human rights worldwide.

Compared with Carter and Clinton, Ma’s travels and spending raise the question of whether Ma “possesses the vision befitting a former president,” Wang said.     [FULL  STORY]

UK minister eyes lifting of Taiwan trade barriers

The China Post
Date: September 28, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A visiting UK trade minister on Tuesday hailed Taiwan as a key trading partner but

Greg Hands from the UK's Department for International Trade speaks to students during a speech at National Chengchi University in Taipei on Monday, Sept. 26. (Photo courtesy of the British Office)

Greg Hands from the UK’s Department for International Trade speaks to students during a speech at National Chengchi University in Taipei on Monday, Sept. 26. (Photo courtesy of the British Office)

said some obstacles should be resolved to enable closer exchanges.

Speaking to The China Post in a phone interview, Greg Hands, minister of state in the United Kingdom’s new Department for International Trade, said bilateral trade was already strong with trading volume at nearly 6 billion pounds a year.

The UK was also “the second most important destination” for Taiwanese investors, he said.

The official said that during his two-day visit to Taiwan, which began Monday, he had met with Taiwanese officials and had a “helpful (and) productive” dialogue about trade issues with President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday.

Hands said that although Taiwan was a “healthy” trade partner, there remained a number of trade obstacles that his government hoped to resolve with Taiwanese counterparts.     [FULL  STORY]

China-Taiwan Battle Heats Up at UN Air Safety Meeting in Montreal

China claims responsibility for blocking Taiwan at key international aviation meeting; Taiwanese reporters the latest to be shunned.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/09/26
By: Edward White

The debacle unfolding at an important international air safety meeting has taken another twist with China

Photo Credit: Chiang Ying-ying / AP Photo / 達志影像

Photo Credit: Chiang Ying-ying / AP Photo / 達志影像

appearing to claim responsibility for blocking Taiwan at the event and with Taiwanese journalists reportedly being turned away.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) holds an assembly every three years; its recommendations and policies are considered key to the development and maintenance of global aviation standards.

This year’s meeting, held from Sept. 27-Oct. 7, has been marred by the exclusion of Taiwan, which after years of diplomatic effort attended the 2013 event under the name Chinese Taipei. Several countries, including the U.S. and Japan, lobbied the Montreal-based UN agency again this year for Taiwan’s inclusion.

However, relations across the Taiwan Strait cooled after the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) was voted out of power in January. China, whose representative began a three-year term as ICAO secretary general on Aug. 1 last year, now appears to be claiming responsibility for blocking Taiwan – which is not a UN member – from attending this year’s event.     [FULL  STORY]