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Girl, 3, decapitated in apparently random killing in Taiwan

Taiwanese media are reporting that a 3-year-old girl has been decapitated in an apparently random killing outside a subway station in the capital

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-28
By: Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese media are reporting that a 3-year-old girl has been decapitated in an apparently random killing outside a subway station in the capital.

Local media say police arrested a man following Monday’s attack in Taipei.

According to the reports, the man, identified by his surname, Wang, grabbed the girl from behind and decapitated her with a cleaver shortly before noon. The girl was with her mother, who was unable to prevent the attack.

Hours later, an angry crowd gathered outside the police station where Wang had been taken, some brandishing baseball bats in apparent preparation for an attack on the suspect.

The government-run Central News Agency said the 33-year-old Wang had an arrest record for drug crimes and had been treated for mental illness.

Violent crime is rare in Taiwan.     [SOURCE]

Taiwan at low risk of terror attack: NPA

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-28
By: Chia Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The possibility of terrorist attacks happening in Taiwan is low, the National Police Agency

The possibility of Taiwan being involved in terrorist attack is low, stated National Police Agency (NPA) on Monday.

The possibility of Taiwan being involved in terrorist attack is low, stated National Police Agency (NPA) on Monday.

(NPA) said on Monday.

The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign and National Defense Committee on Monday invited the National Security Bureau, the Investigation Bureau and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to report on the risk of terrorist attacks Taiwan faces in the wake of the Brussels attacks and the statement of an Indonesian government official that Indonesian migrant workers in Asian democratic countries including Taiwan could become targets of Islamic State (IS) recruitment.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Lin, said that the government had expressed hopes that the two governments could work together to prevent Indonesian workers in Taiwan from being infiltrated by IS, he said.

Nusron Wahid, head of Indonesian’s Bureau for the Placement and Protection of Foreign Workers, was recently cited by media as saying that he knew of two Indonesian migrant workers in Korea who had joined IS, and some in Taiwan and Hong Kong had been seen wearing IS badges or other symbols of the terrorist organization.

NPA Deputy-General Chen Jia-chang said that the agency has been reinforcing counter-terror efforts since the Paris attacks, adding that they have also been studying the risk of Taiwan under such threat after the Brussels attacks.     [FULL  STORY]

8 people in Taiwan have shown interest in joining ISIS: NSB

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/28
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Y.F. Low

Taipei, March 28 (CNA) The National Security Bureau (NSB) is monitoring eight people in

NSB Director-General Yang Kuo-chiang (center).

NSB Director-General Yang Kuo-chiang (center).

Taiwan who have shown an interest in joining the Islamic State (ISIS), NSB Director-General Yang Kuo-chiang (楊國強) said Monday.

These people have been discovered to have left their personal data on the website of the terrorist organization, Yang told lawmakers during a legislative hearing on measures to prevent foreign nationals from engaging in terrorist activities in Taiwan in the wake of the March 22 terror attacks in Brussels.

Yang did not elaborate on the identities of these eight people.

He also said that the NSB has compiled a list of 35 suspected foreign terrorists who are barred from entry into Taiwan and will constantly update the list as part of its efforts to monitor and respond to the threat posed by foreign terrorists.

National Police Agency Deputy Director-General Chen Jia-chang (陳嘉昌), meanwhile, said his agency judges that the likelihood of a terror attack occurring in Taiwan is relatively low.      [FULL  STORY]

Draft bill on transitional justice promotion finalized

STRICT REQUIREMENTS:The draft stipulates that members of a proposed transitional justice committee should be nominated by the Cabinet and approved by the legislature

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 29, 2016
By: Chang Hsiao-ti / Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday announced that it has finalized a

Democratic Progressive Party legislators at a press conference in Taipei yesterday call on the government to fast-track transitional justice legislation. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party legislators at a press conference in Taipei yesterday call on the government to fast-track transitional justice legislation. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

draft of the transitional justice promotion act, which includes establishing a transitional justice promotion committee under the Executive Yuan responsible for making political documents available to the public, removing authoritarian symbols, redressing judicial injustice and managing the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) illegal party assets.

“Transitional justice promotion is an unfinished task in Taiwan’s democratic transformation, and it is a historic responsibility that all political parties should face together to achieve social reconciliation,” DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.

The DPP caucus is expected to submit the draft bill for committee review on Friday at the earliest, Ker said.

The draft bill stipulates that the transitional justice promotion committee should have nine committee members who are nominated by the Executive Yuan and approved by the Legislative Yuan. It also stipulates that political party members cannot account for more than one-third of the committee.

The committee is to be comprised of four task forces, with each task force responsible for drafting bills on making political documents available to the public; removing authoritarian symbols and historical sites of injustice; redressing judicial injustice, restoring historical truths and promoting social reconciliation; and managing ill-gotten party assets.     [FULL  STORY]

Suhua Highway improvement plan to be completed by 2019

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-27
By: Central News Agency

The government’s NT$49.2 billion (US$1.5 billion) project to improve the Suhua Highway along Taiwan’s rugged east coast is expected to be completed between 2017 and 2019, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is saying.

The ministry gave the projection in written materials prepared for the Legislative Yuan ahead of a hearing on Monday, when Transportation Minister Chen Jian-yu is expected to answer questions about the current status and future development of transportation projects in eastern Taiwan.

The 38.8 km Suhua Highway improvement project, aimed at improving road safety and reducing travel times between Suao in Yilan County and Hualien County, is divided into three sections — Suao to Dongao, Nanao to Heping, and Hezhong to Daqingshui.

The highway is the main artery connecting southern Yilan County to Hualien County, and its winding, narrow roads perched above the Pacific Ocean are the scene of frequent accidents and are especially vulnerable to landslides.

Calls for an upgrade gained urgency in 2010 after torrential rains from Typhoon Megi triggered lethal landslides on the road that killed 26 people.     [FULL  STORY]

One English letter can make a big difference, Health Ministry finds

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/27
By: Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 27 (CNA) The Ministry of Health and Welfare took some heat Sunday for an

(From http://facebook.com/TMAL119)

(From http://facebook.com/TMAL119)

English typo on its website that made one of its hospitals look decidedly unprofessional.

On the main banner of the ministry’s web page for Chest Hospital, the name of the facility was written as “Cheat Hospital,” sparking discussion among Internet users.

The Taiwan Medical Alliance for Labor Justice and Patient Safety pointed out the error in a Facebook post on Sunday, and some netizens said they felt embarrassed by the mistake, even mocking the hospital for being very “honest” and asking if its doctors were “cheats.”

Others, however, chastised the critics, saying they should not poke fun at others for such mistakes.

The error was corrected later Sunday.     [SOURCE]

Proposal aims to end election of towns’ mayors

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 28, 2016
By: Aaron Tu / Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) has proposed amendments to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) to abolish the election of township mayors and representatives in non-Aboriginal townships in the nation’s 13 counties.

To simplify the local administrative hierarchy, Changhua and Nantou counties are already planning to abolish the election of townships mayors and councils, and authorize the county governments to appoint township mayors, while making council representatives non-paid advisers.

However, county governments are calling for amendments to apply nationwide.

Cheng said he proposed to abolish such elections in non-Aboriginal townships, while keeping those in Aboriginal townships to maintain Aboriginal autonomy.

The legislative general assembly has referred the proposed amendments to the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee and the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee for a joint review. If the amendments are passed, the Executive Yuan would decide on a date for them to take effect.     [FULL  STORY]

Yilan Green Expo opens

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-26
By: Worthy Shen and Y.F. Low, Central News Agency

The annual Yilan Green Expo opened Saturday in Su’ao in the northeastern county and will run until May 15.

The theme of this year’s expo is food safety. Visitors will be able to find various interactive content related to the theme and experience a non-toxic, green lifestyle, the Yilan County government said.

In recent years, many food manufacturers have substituted natural ingredients for cheap, artificial ones, and the expo will show visitors how to eat safely and well, the county government said.     [SOURCE]

Formosa Petrochemical to raise fuel prices next week

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/26
By: Wei Shu and Romulo Huang

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (台塑石化), a private gasoline supplier 201603260021t0001in Taiwan, said Saturday that it will raise its gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 (US$0.006) per liter next week, starting at 1 a.m. March 28.

Formosa Petrochemical said it decided to raise prices after a weighted average of international crude oil prices rose this past week.

Crude prices moved higher on expectations that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-member petroleum producers would discuss cutting production at a meeting slated for April 17.

The rise was partially mitigated during the week, however, when data released on March 23 showed that United States commercial crude oil inventories jumped 9.4 million barrels during the week that ended on March 18.

After the latest price adjustments, fuel prices at Formosa Petrochemical gas stations will rise to NT$18.5 per liter for super diesel, NT$21.3 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$22.8 per liter for 95+ octane unleaded and NT$25.1 per liter for 98 octane unleaded.      [SOURCE]

Shares sold three months before results: prosecutors

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 27, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Prosecutors looking into allegations of insider trading involving OBI Pharma Inc (台灣浩鼎) shares said on Friday that the daughter of Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) sold some of her shares in the company three months before it announced a failed trial of a new cancer drug, an announcement that sent its stock price plunging.

The Shihlin Prosecutors’ Office in Taipei said that the exact number of shares sold by Wong Yu-shioh (翁郁秀) and the flow of the funds still have to be checked.
Prosecutors have screened data supplied by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on the 50 biggest traders of OBI Pharma shares prior to when the failed test was announced on Feb. 21, and Wong’s daughter was not among that group, the office said.

The office said it would expand the list to check the top 100 traders of OBI Pharma shares during the period, without specifying how long before the announcement the data cover.

Prosecutors summoned OBI Pharma general manager Amy Huang (黃秀美) for questioning to learn about the process of the clinical trial of its breast cancer drug OBI-822.     [FULL  STORY]