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I-Mei donates NT$1.2 million to Taitung reconstruction

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-11
By: Jennifer Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

I-Mei Foods Co., Ltd. CEO Luis Ko announced Monday that the food company will donate NT$1.2 6768796million (US$37,046) to help Taitung with the reconstruction.

Ko had announced July 9 a decision to give two extra paid leaves to company staff with immediate families living in Taitung, the hardest hit area by Typhoon Nepartak, and award a subsidy of NT$20,000 (US$620) to each of the families if their houses were severely damaged by the typhoon.

Typhoon Nepartak made a landfall in Taitung on July 8 and left a trail of destruction in agriculture and thousands of homes devastated in this region. The reconstruction of Taitung is expected to be long and arduous.     [FULL  STORY]

Agricultural losses from Typhoon Nepartak top NT$1 billion

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/11
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Romulo Huang

Taipei, July 11 (CNA) Taiwan’s agricultural losses from Typhoon Nepartak rose to an estimated

CNA file photo

CNA file photo

NT$1.07 billion (US$33.4 million), the Council of Agriculture (COA) said Monday.

Citing figures valid as of 5 p.m. that day, the COA said the eastern county of Taitung suffered the biggest agricultural losses, estimated at NT$731.39 million or 73 percent of the total.

It was followed by the southern county of Pingtung with NT$127.03 million or 13 percent of the total losses, and Kaohsiung with NT$108.77 million or 11 percent of the total.

Losses in agricultural produce were estimated at NT$838.21 million, with 9,963 hectares of crops affected.     [FULL  STORY]

Secretary-general’s Taitung no-show a mistake, KMT says

ITINERARY OUTCRY:DPP spokesman Wang Min-sheng had accused Mo Tien-hu of bailing out on hundreds of workers and keeping them waiting

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 12, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to refrain from an unnecessary war of words, as the party sought to assuage controversy over KMT Secretary-General Mo Tien-hu’s (莫天虎) no-show at a party event for post-typhoon reconstruction workers in Taitung City.

“The DPP’s criticism is inappropriate. We did not arrange for Mo to pay his respects to reconstruction workers in Taitung City when we finalized his itinerary on Saturday,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Chow Chi-wai (周志偉) said at KMT headquarters in Taipei.

Chow said the visit to the cleanup squads and reconstruction workers on Taitung’s Nanjing Road was suggested by staff at the KMT’s Taitung County branch on the spur of the moment, after they spotted the workers when they were on their way to greet Mo at Taitung Airport on Sunday morning.     [FULL  STORY]

Commencement, gala dinner for Mosaic Taiwan 2016 held

The China Post
Date: July 8, 2016
By: The China Post News Staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Mosaic Taiwan 2016 program ended successfully recently with remarkable

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General Wen-liang Chang awards completion certificates to the 2016 Mosaic Taiwan fellows. (Photo courtesy of MOFA )

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General Wen-liang Chang awards completion certificates to the 2016 Mosaic Taiwan fellows. (Photo courtesy of MOFA )

singing, dancing and instrument performances by program fellows, new diplomats and youth ambassadors, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

MOFA Secretary General Wen-liang Chang awarded completion certificates and five recognition awards. The friendly interaction between young leaders from Taiwan, the U.S. and Canada was a perfect ending to the event, said MOFA.

The Mosaic Taiwan program participants were 30 young leaders from the United States and Canada. The three-week session included a series of lectures, cultural events, interactive activities and explorations of many other aspects of Taiwan, MOFA stated.     [FULL  STORY]

Sliding into summer

The China Post
Date: July 11, 2016

Two women enjoy a waterslide Sunday in the city of Chiayi. The city will host the KANO carnival from August 19-21, which will feature many fun ways for residents and visitors alike to escape Taiwan's scorching summer heat. (CNA)

Two women enjoy a waterslide Sunday in the city of Chiayi. The city will host the KANO carnival from August 19-21, which will feature many fun ways for residents and visitors alike to escape Taiwan’s scorching summer heat. (CNA)

Two women enjoy a waterslide Sunday in the city of Chiayi. The city will host the KANO carnival from August 19-21, which will feature many fun ways for residents and visitors alike to escape Taiwan’s scorching summer heat.     [SOURCE]

Signs indicate train explosion suspect a total loner

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-10
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Signs indicate Lin Ying-chang, who police suspect of detonating a homemade bomb on a commuter 6768664train in Taipei on Thursday evening that injured 25 people including himself, is a total loner.

So far, the police have not been able to determine motives for causing the explosion.

Lin, 55, who was severely injured in the explosion, is recovering at an intensive care unit at hospital and expected to be able to face police questioning in a short time.

Police found that Lin, who has a criminal record that includes offenses such as theft and drunk driving, has a son from a marriage that only last for two years. Lin, who reportedly has long been receiving treatment for tonsil cancer, left home six years ago and has since estranged himself from the outside world. No one knows what happened to him before his alleged detonation of an explosive device on a commuter train on Thursday, and no one knows what made him to do so.     [FULL  STORY]

MOL announces 5 measures to help typhoon-hit workers

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/10
By: Tyson Lu and S.C. Chang

Taipei, July 10 (CNA) The Ministry of Labor (MOL) said Sunday it was offering 1,000 temporary jobs to residents of Taitung, the hardest hit area as Super Typhoon Nepartak swept through Taiwan Friday, to help them rebuild their homelands.

This was part of a five-point measure released by the MOL aimed at helping typhoon victims clean up their homes and farms. Applicants will get a pay of NT$120 per hour for up to 176 hours a month. This offer lasts for three months at the maximum, MOL said.

Secondly, those affected by the typhoon will get a six-month subsidy for their labor insurance, employment insurance, farmer’s insurance or national pension premiums, according to the MOL.

And third, those who have borrowed money from government-sponsored micro-loan programs can request a six-month delay in paying the interest and capital, said the MOL.     [FULL  STORY]

Aid for typhoon-hit Taitung pouring in from across Taiwan

The China Post
Date: July 11, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Various individuals and organizations across party lines pledged both financial and material support over the weekend for typhoon-battered Taitung.

Typhoon Nepartak unleashed destruction across much of Eastern Taiwan, with Taitung County hit most seriously. Agriculture and property damage in the county alone are estimated at over NT$720 million (approx. US$22.3 million).

New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who sent heavy machinery from Taiwan’s largest municipality to the eastern county to clear away storm debris also contributed NT$200,000 in financial support Sunda     [FULL  STORY]

INTERVIEW: Brexit referendum holds lessons for Taiwan

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 11, 2016
By: Cheng Chi-fang, Liberty Times

Taiwan’s first representative to the WTO, Yen Ching-chang, told Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the the Taipei Times) reporter Cheng Chi-fang that the UK’s vote to leave the EU should be cause to reflect on Taiwan’s approach to regional economic integration, and it is time to drop the ECFA in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Liberty Times (LT): Was the Brexit result influenced by the history of the UK’s participation in efforts to forge a pan-European identity?

Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章): There is of course a connection between the decision for Brexit and the UK’s decision to join the EU. The first person to call for the establishment of a pan-European identity or organization was actually former British prime minister Winston Churchill [sic], who called for a “United States of Europe” in September 1946.

Churchill’s call was based on the hope that Europe, heavily damaged by two consecutive world wars, would be able to put its unhappy history behind it. Despite Churchill’s call, the UK never thought that it should be a part of such an organization.

The first stage of realizing the move was the formation of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957, which the UK did not join until 1973.     [FULL  INTERVIEW]

National water supply expected to be stable through end of September

The China Post
Date: July 10, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI–The water supply in Taiwan will be stable until the end of September, given the recent rainfall it received from the “plum rain” season and Typhoon Nepartak, which swept through the island this week, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said Saturday.

The WRA said that the current water storage rate at reservoirs in Taiwan averaged 78.2 percent, which will ensure a stable water supply in the summer, although it still called for water conservation.

The agency said that Taiwan’s 12 major reservoirs released a total of 166 million cubic meters of stored water prior to the onslaught of Typhoon Nepartak to avoid flooding, and they received 68.13 million cubic meters of waters due to heavy rains brought by the typhoon.

Although the amount of stored water has decreased, it is estimated that catchment areas of the reservoirs could still collect 38.4 million cubic meters of waters in the next few days.     [FULL  STORY]