Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/02
By: Keven Huang and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will respect the various voices found in a pluralistic society, the Presidential Office said Friday on the eve of a big protest planned by retired military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers.

“Taiwan is a democratic society, and different and diverse voices should be respected,” the office said in a statement.

The president hopes that everyone can sit down after the march to discuss how to reform the nation’s retirement pension system, it added.

Premier Lin Chuan (林全) added that “it is their right to express their views, and (the march) should be respected.”

An alliance monitoring retirement pension reform said it will mobilize 100,000 people to take to the streets Saturday to protest against the smearing of public sector employees in the discussion of the retirement pension reform issue.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 03, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

With less than a week before the deadline the Taipei City Government set for Farglory Group to finish

safety reviews of the Taipei Dome, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said the two sides have not yet reached a consensus on the Dome’s future.

Ko made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting that took place about two weeks ago between him and Farglory chairman Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄).

Ko had said that if Farglory does not pass seven safety reviews of the Dome by Thursday, he would dissolve the contract.

Asked what they talked about, Ko said he and Chao illustrated their respective stance on the Dome impasse.

He said he gave Chao a review of events regarding the Dome — from Farglory’s deviation from the Dome’s construction plan, the city’s work suspension order on the Dome, to two recent investigation results by the Taipei High Administrative Court and the Control Yuan, both of which found that the city’s work suspension order to be within reason and legal parameters.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 3, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) said Friday it will play a “supporting role on the sidelines” in

demonstrations planned by retired civil servants for Armed Forces Day on Saturday.

Opposition chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said she and other party officials will situate themselves near Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂) to lend support to the protest in front of the Presidential Office.

But officials said they would refrain from active participation, contending their presence would divert attention away from the issue of pension reform.

Organizers representing retired civil servants, teachers and veterans hope to rally 100,000 in protest at the Tsai administration’s pension reforms.

The demonstrators say they view the government’s actions as “bullying” and an attempt to “vilify” public sector workers.     [FULL  STORY]

Chinese authorities are making sure that no ‘troublemaker’ will be able to use the gathering of leaders to draw global attention to their causes.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/09/02
By: J. Michael Cole

As authorities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, prepare to host the G20 summit this weekend, China’s

security apparatus has shifted into high gear, with as many as 100 people preemptively detained and many others ordered to skip town for a few days. Potential troublemakers from China’s peripheries are also being told to keep out.

Government authorities worldwide fear that various groups may attempt to use large gatherings of world leaders, such as the G20, to draw attention to their cause, whether they are environmental, religious, or political.

Particularly sensitive to any disturbance, the Chinese government is not taking any chances. Representatives from several European charities have been unable to obtain accreditation for the event, AFP reports. Dozens of Chinese have reportedly been detained, and several others have been compelled to travel outside the city during the Sept. 4-5 summit.

Local hotels have also tightened security and are refusing to entertain clients from Xinjiang, home of the ethnic — and persecuted — Uighur minority, which Beijing has accused of orchestrating several attacks across China in recent years.

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 02, 2016
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Retired military personnel are planning to attend a protest in Taipei tomorrow not only because Taiwan

has not respected its military, but the military has suffered humiliation from Taiwanese for far too long, former National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲) said on Tuesday.

Ting, who was speaking at the launch of former National Security Bureau official Lee Tien-tuo’s (李天鐸) new book, The Military Spirit under the Republic of China National Flag (青天白日下的軍魂), said the “military spirit” refers to the soul of the military and is the greatest pillar of spiritual support in times of war.

“Units that have no soul are unable to do their best in battle, and every nation around the world has policies in place to respect and protect their own military to preserve and cement their faith in their ideology, or soul,” Ting said.

“However, modern Taiwan has taken exactly the opposite approach and is constantly shaming its military, from ordering personnel to apologize for torturing a dog, the woman, surnamed Hung (洪), who slandered veterans, and the incident where four petty officers crawled into the house of Huang Wen-chung (黃文忠), the captain of the fishing ship that was accidentally hit by a navy missile,” he said.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 2, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI–Visitors enjoyed taking photos inside the National Palace Museum Thursday, the first day the

museum has allowed visitors to take pictures under certain conditions.

Starting Thursday, the museum implemented a new policy on a trial basis until Dec. 1, during which select artifacts, including bronzes, porcelains and jades, are open to photography.

But visitors are prohibited from taking group photos and they will not be allowed to use flashlights, lighting equipment, tripods or selfie sticks under any circumstances. “The museum will see if the policy leads to any inconveniences for the public and then decide after Dec. 1 whether to extend it further,” Ho Chuan-hsing, vice director of the National Palace Museum, said.

A Japanese tourist, identified by the surname Nishikawa, also used his smart phone to take pictures, saying that “it’s good to be able to take photos” as this will allow him to bring back the fond memories of Taiwan back to his country.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Tsai Ing-wen promised Friday that she would present a new military strategy next January.

A report by Taiwan’s military published earlier in the week said China was able to blockade and take over the country’s offshore islands close to the coast of the province of Fujian by force.

With the nature of threats having clearly changed as the world enters the 21st century, the military needed to find more creative ways of managing personnel, Tsai said in an address to the military Friday. She added that she hoped that next January, the new direction and the new military culture would become clear

On the occasion of Armed Forces Day, September 3, she said that during her many visits to military bases since taking office last May, she had seen how the basic training of the staff had been imperiled by too many secondary tasks and by a lack of space, which eventually would lead to a reduction in the military’s preparedness.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/02
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) pledged Friday that in the government’s efforts to reform the country’s retirement pension system, it will give special consideration to military personnel and will not wink at any attempts to stigmatize the military.

Speaking at an Armed Forces Day event, Tsai was alluding to the circulation of several unverified rumors concerning military personnel.

Tsai urged military personnel to take the reforms in stride, saying that the problems in the current retirement pension system have developed over time and if they are not addressed, they will affect the future of military retirees.

The problems escalated because past governments did not have the courage to tackle pension reform, Tsai said, adding that the blame should not be placed on any single individual or occupation.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: August 31, 2016

President Tsai Ing-wen said Aug. 30 the government will establish an independent food safety

evaluation committee as part of new measures to protect public health and strengthen Taiwan’s reputation as a culinary destination.

“Food safety is a priority for the administration,” Tsai said at the opening of the Taiwan Food Safety Summit in Taipei City. “As the issue involves interministerial coordination, the government will set up an independent committee to assess potential risks and improve precautionary management procedures.”

The president said a dedicated authority will also be created to regulate the use of chemical substances in food production, while ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers are working on amendments to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation to strengthen existing regulations.

“In addition, the government will increase its food safety budget by 50 percent next year, with a focus on building production management systems and enhancing food safety inspection capabilities,” she added.     [FULL  STORY]