Page Three

Tainan mayor reproves speaker

SHENANIGANS:Political analysts have speculated that Lee Chuan-chiao might resign before a vote-buying verdict is announced, then try to reclaim his seat in a by-election

Taipei Times
Date: , Apr 24, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called on Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to resign as speaker of the Tainan City Council and urged lawmakers to close a legal loophole that might allow Lee to run in a by-election for his seat on the council.

In accordance with the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Lee, who on Friday was sentenced to a four-year prison term by the Tainan District Court for vote-buying in the city council’s speakership election on Dec. 25, 2014, was suspended from his position as speaker.

Lee was also found guilty on Jan. 21 this year of buying votes in November 2014 during his campaign for city councilor.

The ruling invalidated his electoral victory, but Lee still holds a seat representing the city’s Yuching District (玉井), because he appealed the ruling.

The Tainan City Government said that since Friday it has received many telephone calls from angry residents complaining that Lee is still receiving a monthly salary of about NT$370,000 as well as other subsidies and allowances, because he still has a seat on the council.     [FULL  STORY]

Corrupt officials to lose pension benefits

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-22
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Legislative Yuan on Friday approved an 6749740amendment which will see officials who are sentenced to at least seven years in prison for corruption forced to return their retirement benefits.

The legal amendments have been dubbed the “Yeh Shih-wen articles” after the former Taoyuan County vice magistrate who was the focus of public outrage after he was known to continue drawing a government pension even after receiving a 21-year prison sentence for taking bribes from developers.

Under the new version, corrupt civil servants will see their retirement benefits end completely, while they will be forced to pay back pension funds already received, reports said.     [FULL  STORY]

Mercury could exceed 30 degrees in most areas of Taiwan until Sunday

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/22
By: Huang Yu and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) Daytime temperature highs will stay at over 30 degrees

Taipei, Thursday.

Taipei, Thursday.

Celsius until Sunday, when a new weather front will bring occasional showers to areas north of central Taiwan, eastern Taiwan, and mountainous areas in the south, the Central Weather Bureau forecast Friday.

Under the influence of the approaching front, daytime highs in northern Taiwan will decrease slightly to 29 degrees April 24 and will drop further to 25 degrees April 25, the bureau predicted.

The influence, however, will be mild in central and southern areas next week, where highs will remain at 30-32 degrees, according to the bureau.

Occasional showers in eastern and northern Taiwan and mountainous areas of central and southern Taiwan were forecast for Friday afternoon, while the weather in other areas was expected to be mostly cloudy, the bureau said.     [FULL  STORY]

Future Cabinet spokesman stands by minister-designate’s import comments

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 23, 2016
By: Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter

Cabinet spokesperson-to-be Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) yesterday defended Council of Agriculture minister-designate Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) over his remarks about lifting the ban on importing US pork products, saying Tsao’s comments are in line with the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) four fundamental principles on the issue.

Joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a common aspiration in Taiwan and talks on membership are certain to include whether to lift the ban on importing US pork products, he said.

“The DPP has four basic principles on the issue: ensuring food safety, reducing the impact on the industry, staying in line with international standards and establishing a mechanism to smoothly communicate with all parties,” he said. “It is under such preconditions that we would take care of the pork products import issue in negotiations for the TPP.”

“Tsao’s remarks did not go beyond the four principles. It is just that sometimes, newspapers might focus on different things,” Tung said.

However, DPP lawmakers appeared divided on the import issue.     [FULL  STORY]

President-elect Tsai meets with environmental groups

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-21
By: Chia Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

On the eve of World Earth Day, President-elect Tsai Ing-wen met with 6749559environmental group representatives Thursday to discuss current environmental problems and promised more communications with NGOs addressing issues related to environment.

Tsai said during the meeting that the new government will inevitably encounter many environmental challenges once takes office, including air pollution, wildlife conservation, toxic-free environment, food security, non-nuclear homeland, and so on.

However, civic groups can provide the administration with professional advice in respect of these problems, Tsai stressed. She expressed her hope for the environmental groups to not only offer supervision in government policy, but to lead the way forward on environmental protection.

She also asked the NGOs to step up and voice their opinions if the administration failed to deliver on its promises. “If one time is not enough, state your opinion again with a louder voice,” she added.     [FULL  STORY]

Hottest day ever in April; chance of afternoon showers

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/21
By: Wang Shu-fen and Kay Liu

Taipei, April 21 (CNA) Taiwan recorded the highest temperature in April in the

(CNA file photo)

(CNA file photo)

southeastern county of Taitung, which saw 34.9 degrees Celsius Thursday afternoon, according to the Central Weather Bureau.

The weather station in Taitung’s Dawu Township charted the new April high since records began in 1885 at 1:32 p.m., while nine other locations in Taiwan also experienced the hottest day so far this year, the bureau said.

Daytime highs in Chiayi, Taichung and Taipei were the highest among the nine other locations, hitting 33.8, 33.2, and 33.1 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The weather will remain cloudy to sunny in most parts of Taiwan before Saturday, with a chance of scattered showers in the afternoon, according to the bureau.     [FULL  STORY]

Lawmaker protests ‘exclusion’ of Aboriginal rights

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 22, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

An Aboriginal legislator yesterday said the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) legislative caucus was excluding Aboriginal rights from legislative discussions.

“I feel strongly about the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee not inviting the Council of Indigenous Peoples,” Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) said at a meeting of the Internal Administration Committee.

Chin said the council was the only Cabinet-level agency that had not been invited to send a representative to the hearing on draft legislation to promote transitional justice, adding that the omission reflected a wider absence of Aboriginal rights in discussions over transitional justice, with the DPP focusing primarily on rectifying abuses committed during the Martial Law period.

“When we talk about the Chinese National Party’s [KMT] assets, should we not also talk about how Aborigines lost their land during Japanese colonial rule? If we do not talk about that set of issues and do not even invite the Council of Indigenous Peoples to express an opinion, what kind of transitional justice is this?” she said.     [FULL  STORY]

Solving problems is priority of cabinet: premier-designate

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-20
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

“Solving problems and doing things is the primary purpose of [this] Cabinet,” 6749392Premier-designate Lin Chuan shrugged off a question that the new Cabinet lineup is “not eye-opening” after his announcement of more government members Wednesday.

The Cabinet lineup has mostly been completed after Lin presented his fourth list of appointments Wednesday.

However, Lin faced questions from the media talking about comments from so-called outsiders that his choices for ministers were not refreshing, since they included many holdovers from local governments and previous administrations.

Lin said he was not so concerned about the question of whether the lineup is eye-opening or not because he had only paid attention to whether they can solve problems. There is no honeymoon, and “[I] hope they can get the hang of it on May 20, the day of the takeover,” Lin added.     [FULL  STORY]

White Terror letters put on display

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 21, 2016
By: Huang Ming-tang and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

A National Human Rights Museum exhibition featuring 10 undelivered letters

A person on Tuesday points to a letter written by White Terror era victim Chen Chen-chi, which is on display at National Taitung University. Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times

A person on Tuesday points to a letter written by White Terror era victim Chen Chen-chi, which is on display at National Taitung University. Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times

composed by people just before their executions during the White Terror era opened at National Taitung University on Monday.

In the White Terror era, many death-row inmates awaiting execution for charges of political offenses wrote letters to their families and gave them to prison guards in the vain hope that they would be delivered, exhibition organizers said.

Instead, the authorities collected the unsent letters and deposited them in a classified government archive. By the time of declassification, some of the letters had been sealed for more than 60 years, organizers said.

In 2011, the museum completed cataloging the archive, counting letters from 112 prisoners who were executed.

After ensuring surviving family members would receive the letters, the museum chose 10 documents from the archive to use in an exhibition to commemorate White Terror history.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan, China jointly compile Chinese dictionary

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/20
By: Hsieh Chia-chen and S.C. Chang

Taipei, April 20 (CNA) A comprehensive dictionary of Chinese words used on 201604200024t0001both sides of the Taiwan Strait was published Wednesday, much to the delight of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

The publication of such a dictionary was one of Ma’s campaign promises in 2007, before his first election as president in May 2008.

“I’m gratified that my campaign promise has been realized before the end of my second term (next month),” he said.

“Chung Hua Yu Wen Ta Tzu Tien” (中華語文大辭典), or “A Dictionary of Chinese Lexicons,” was a joint effort by hundreds of scholars and language experts from Taiwan and China.

It is a compilation of 13,004 words frequently used in Taiwan and in China, and 88,728 multisyllabic terms and phrases, in 101,732 entries that include different usages on both sides of the strait.     [FULL  STORY]