Aborigines claim they are prosecuted for carrying out their traditions.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/08/25
By: ZiQing Low

Truku Aborigines from the Knkreyan Village, also known as Tongmen Village (銅門部落), in Hualien

County gathered in front of the Ninth Division of the Seventh Special Police Corps today to protest over the arrest of three tribe members.

Local police arrested the three men under the Mining Act on Aug. 18 for the illegal mining of rhodonite, a pink mineral prized by collectors, on state-owned land. However, one of the Knkreyan villagers, Rakaw Didi, said the rock collected by the men was limestone, not rhodonite.

The 200-kg rock in question was handed over to the Hualien Forestry Bureau for examination, and then returned to the location where it was found, the Chinese-language Liberty Times reported. Police claim the rock was rhodonite. The Hualien Forestry Bureau has yet to confirm those claims.

In a Facebook post, the Ninth Division says police received a tip-off informing them that the three men were mining rhodonite in the Tongmen area. The men were found using an electric winch and cables to lift the rock from the river bed. Rakaw Didi said police were giving the Truku Aborigines a bad name by claiming the Truku men were stealing rhodonite from the area.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-08-25
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

With the stunning growth of the futures exchange in 2015, the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX)

this year expands its presence on the world stage by working with global partners to host a forum gathering more than 300 finance professionals from around the world in Taipei to provide their insights on future prospects and challenges of derivatives markets in response to a growing change in regulation, technology and investor preferences.

The ever-changing scenarios have disrupted market practices and created new challenges. With that, finance professionals from European countries, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and so on attended the FIA forum on Thursday to see how these changes impact Taiwan’s market and give their thoughts and constructive advice to the development of the country’s derivatives markets.

FIA is the leading global trade organization for the futures, options and centrally cleared derivatives markets. FIA’s membership includes clearing firms, exchanges, clearinghouses, trading firms.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/08/25
By: Milly Lin, Tai Ya-chen, Huang Chiao-wen, and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) The appointment of Audrey Tang (唐鳳), a self-styled “civic hacker” involved in several online projects on public participation in policy discussions, as a minister without portfolio was seen as a “bold” attempt by the Cabinet to move the government’s policy on the digital economy forward.

Cabinet spokesman Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said Tang, 35, will be in charge of issues pertaining to the digital economy and open government when she assumes the post Oct. 1.

While lauding Premier Lin Chuan for his bold attempt to use Tang’s expertise, former Premier Simon Chang (張善政) said three problems will have to be solved before the youngest member of the Cabinet can display her expertise:

First, will she be authorized to “command” the 40-odd staff members, most of whom are information technology experts, in the Cabinet task force on science and technology?     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: August 26, 2016
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

Bus drivers blocked traffic and clashed with police officers at the Transportation Ministry (MOTC) on

Thursday morning, as they accused the government of damaging their industry’s reputation.

Traffic near the MOTC was stalled for almost an hour, beginning at around 09:30 a.m., when more than 200 coaches began to circle the block.

Organized by the New Taipei City Bus Drivers Labor Union, more than 400 drivers protested what they called defamation against the bus industry. The industry took a dive in July and has yet to rebound.

A July 19 bus fire killed all 26 passengers on board a tour bus, including 24 mainland Chinese, after the bus crashed into the outer edge of a guard rail on National Highway 2.

Though the latest evidence points to possible suicide or homicide by the driver, Transportation Minister Ho Chen Tan maintained that “hardware failure” is a partial cause of the tragedy.

A Directorate General of Highways report, released in July, said that more than 50 percent of buses examined by the agency did not meet safety standards.     [FULL  STORY]

A prison warden hopes the classes will encourage more inmates to obtain a college degree after serving their time.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/08/24
By: Olivia Yang

For the first time in Taiwan’s history, prisoners will soon have the chance to receive a higher

education from university professors.

Chang Jung Christian University (CJCU) in Greater Tainan has reached an agreement with Tainan Prison to offer Chinese, English and other liberal arts classes for people serving time at the institution.

The prison holds more than 3,000 inmates. Warden Chen Chin-feng (陳進豐) says about 800 inmates have high school diplomas, and a survey conducted by the CJCU shows that almost 300 desire to further their studies.

Starting next month, credit classes will be offered. If the program is successful, Bachelor’s degree programs will follow. Course credits obtained in prison can be transferred to any college the prisoners enroll in the future. Inmates will be charged NT$400 (US$13) per credit.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-08-24
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

Renewable energy has been considered the world’s best bet for saving the planet and also a win-

win solution for creating more employment and boosting economic growth. On Wednesday, key opinion leaders in renewable energy gathered in Taipei to exchange opinions and thoughts with the purpose of assisting the Taiwanese government and energy industry to set out a viable action plan to put the country on track to implement a win-win green energy solution for a sustainable environment and economy.

Earlier this year, Taiwan’s new government showed commitment to increasing renewable-based electricity generation to 20 percent of supply by 2025 in response to the COP21 Agreement and under pressure to phase out nuclear energy. With that, the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan, state-run China Petroleum Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers Taiwan jointly put together experts and leaders associated with renewable energy from around the world at a New Energy Leadership Forum to seek solutions.

According to the COP 21, to avoid the perilous consequences of climate change, the participating nations are requested to make every effort to reduce greenhouse emissions and limit the increase of the world’s average surface temperature under 2 Celsius degrees. Taiwan has voluntarily joined the initiative and is hammering out plans to shift to the consumption of renewable energy ahead of its original schedule.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/08/23
By: T.C. Liu and Evelyn Kao

Bangkok, Aug. 23 (CNA) Thai police are seeking their Taiwanese counterpart’s assistance to investigate an ATM heist case after Taiwan authorities successfully cracked an international ring involved in a similar ATM theft last month, Taiwan’s representative office in Thailand said Tuesday.

Hackers stole 12.29 million baht (US$378,310) from 21 ATMs of Thailand’s state-run Government Savings Bank (GSB) in Bangkok and southern provinces July 9 and July 10, according to Thai police.

The thefts have forced the GSB to indefinitely suspend the services of about 4,000 ATMs which were manufactured by a Scottish company. The bank reported the case to Thai police who then turned to Taiwan’s representative office in the country requesting help from Taiwan’s police authorities.     [FULL  STORY]

CLOSED-DOOR:Isolationist policies have led to a slowdown in tourism and other industries, the KMT said as it attempts to win votes in a mayoral by-election

Taipei Times
Date; Aug 25, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday urged Hualien County residents to vote against the

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate in the by-election for Hualien mayor, saying it would serve as a vote of confidence in President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, which it said has devastated the nation’s tourism industry with a refusal to face the so-called “1992 consensus.”

Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Chow Chi-wai (周志偉) said Tsai’s reluctance to accept the “1992 consensus” has caused cross-strait relations to run aground.

The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted to making up in 2000, refers to a supposed understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.

Chow said stalled cross-strait ties have taken a toll on the tourism industry, the effects of which are particularly felt by Hualien residents.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: August 25, 2016
By: CNA

KAOHSIUNG — None of the five Chinese cities invited to an international forum organized by

Kaohsiung have provided a response on whether they will attend the event, the city’s Deputy Mayor Hsu Li-ming said Wednesday.

Kaohsiung sent out invitations to Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiamen and Fuzhou in June for the Global Harbor Cities Forum it initiated and will host Sept. 6-8, but the five cities have neither confirmed nor rejected the invitation, Hsu told reporters at the city’s press conference held for the forum.

During the press event held with the forum’s sponsors, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said 47 cities in 25 countries have confirmed their attendance of the three-day event that will cover issues such as industrial transformation, marine tourism and sustainable development.

With the exception of Shanghai, the mayors or deputy mayors of the four other Chinese cities have traveled to Kaohsiung when the southern port city hosted the Asia Pacific Cities Summit in 2013, and the city government approached the Chinese cities in the same manner this year, Hsu said.     [FULL  STORY]